First came Here, There and Everywhere...Memoirs of an Air Hostess. Now i give you Here, There and Everywhere Else; for stories I had to leave out in the first book. Some are from my flying days, during my 11 and a half years as a Flight Attendant; o...
I'm sure you're wondering exactly who Pink Spotted Mystery Flyers are? Are they a species of alien mystery flyers, or are they perhaps mystery flyers with the measles or chicken pox? Certainly the latter would never be allowed in any aircraft cabin.
Mystery flights were introduced by Ansett in the mid sixties. For a small fare, a person could turn up to the airport and obtain a seat on any flight with vacant seats; just for fun. This happened on regional routes or interstate flights. The popular flights with Airlines of South Australia were Kangaroo Island, Port Lincoln, Broken Hill and Mount Gambier. Whyalla not so much. But it was always a surprise until almost the last minute.
However, you could also book someone on a particular route for a birthday or Christmas gift. As you can imagine, these were usually welcome presents.
We frequently carried mystery flyers. On what was hopefully a fine day, they got to spend an hour or two cruising at around 16,000 feet ,relaxing with a cup of coffee, tea or something stronger, and repeats if they wished and time permitted. They could stretch their legs at the outport, take a few gasps of fresh country air, then jump back onboard for the return flight and consume yet another cup of tea, coffee and the little two pack of Ansett biscuits; sometimes even a piece of fruitcake. Then of course, there was also a walk down the aisle to meet the flight crew.
Once or twice the hostesses would give up their own piece of cake ( we often had packs of sandwiches and cake on board for a snack) to the mystery flyer, especially if they were seated at the rear of the aircraft and the other passengers couldn't see.
Anyway, about these pink spotted mystery flyers. They were my two lovely little nieces; Kate, seven and Rebecca (Becky) five. In the early1980s I had organised for them to fly with us one morning on a flight to Broken Hill. They wore matching pink and white spotted cotton dresses and looked so pretty, sitting in the back row, with pink hair ribbons in their blonde hair. They smiled continuously at me and the other hostess. I did the cabin safety demo that morning and whenever I looked over at them, they were smiling happily.
Broken Hill, as it was about an hour and a half duration, was a breakfast flight. The food varied in appetising quality. I can't recall what we had on that particular day, but I helped them to cut things up and gave them jam sachets instead of marmalade ones for their bread rolls. I don't think they ate much, as they were far too excited. Naturally we took them up to the flight deck to meet the Captain and first officer, as you could in those days.
At Broken Hill airport, I took them across to the terminal building for a quick look, then safely back to their seats. I think we probably gave them colouring books and pencils, kept on board for kids and maybe even a Womans' Weekly magazine to help them feel grown up. They kept right on smiling until we landed back in Adelaide. They were so cute. Thankfully the day was clear, the flight smooth and neither girl was airsick.
In Adelaide, we walked them back into the terminal, where they rushed up to my sister-in-law, Liz, both talking at once and regaling her with their experience. I was delighted it had gone so well. In later years, the late nineties, Kate, or Katherine as she prefers to be called, became a very senior flight attendant with Qantas International, a position she held for nearly 20 years. Both girls have travelled extensively, and of course Becky was able to take advantage of discounts for family members.
Mystery flights ended around the mid nineties
In early1995, I had my own Mystery Flyer experience. I took our daughter Joanna, then seven, on a flight to Sydney with Australian Airlines, which had formerly been Trans Australia Airlines. We took an early morning flight. When we landed in Sydney, I remember taking a portion of the trip into the city on the Monorail, which was functioning at the time; and no, there were no doughnuts required to make it stop. Remember the Simpson's episode, where Homer had to stop the runaway monorail, with the aid of a doughnut? It was a beautiful sight, the water on the Harbour sparkling in the early morning summer sunlight. We visited the Powerhouse Museum, and explored some shops in the Queen Victoria building. Jo had become very tired with overexcitement and we had to cut short our time in the city centre, but not before enjoying a fish and chip lunch, with champagne for me and lemonade for Jo harbour side, watching the ferries chug in and out. On our early return to the airport terminal, Jo fell asleep in the lounge and most of the way on the flight back. We flew back to Adelaide on a767, which was a wide body aircraft, used by both Qantas and Ansett at the time. It was a really special day and very memorable.
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Above, An Ansett Airlines Boeing 727-200 on approach to Adelaide in the late 70s/early 80s.
