Air Niugini, Port Moresby, 1974
still with laundry mark "15" for my room in the Pilots' Mess at Six-Mile
It seems that all I have to show for a life of exciting jobs and high adventure is an assortment of t-shirts which I'm trying to wear out before I do and while they still fit me - only just!
Over the past few days while I painted the "Haus Win" by the duckpond, I managed to cover an old Puerto Galera t-shirt in enough mission brown to consign it forever to the dustbin. Puerto Galero was one of my favourite spots in the Philippines; the other one was Boracay.
I am now painting the rebuilt treehouse and wearing out my old AIR NIUGINI t-shirt and in so doing consigning another memory to the dustbin of history.
AIR NIUGINI commenced operations as the national airline of Papua New Guinea on November 1, 1973, taking over the internal services of Ansett Airlines of Papua New Guinea and TAA. AIR NIUGINI's first general manager, Ralph Conley, hired me in 1974 to set up the airline's internal audit department, located at ANG House which was then Port Moresby's only high-rise building and located on a hill overlooking the city and its harbour.
Papua New Guinea in those pre-Independence days was full of expatriates who under the immigration law had to be in possession of an open return air ticket at all times. Those tickets had been bought from AIR NIUGINI and in most cases would not be used for several years. AIR NIUGINI, being a member of IATA, also sold tickets to any destination in the world without flying to any overseas port themselves other than Cairns and Honiara.
They collected the money and only had to part with it after the overseas airlines had presented them with the used ticket coupon through what is known as the Interline Billing System which in those pre-computer days could take months. In the meantime, AIR NIUGINI "sat" on all that money from open return tickets and uncollected overseas fares and earned good interest on it! A very good business indeed!
Imagine my surprise when during an audit I discovered that AIR NIUGINI's accountants at Six-Mile were routinely including all that unearned money as INCOME in their current Profit & Loss Statement! My report caused quite a flurry (and a few red faces) in the accounts department and a much reduced Profit & Loss Statement!
Another story told; another t-shirt worn out; another hundred to go!
P.S. My neighbour in the AIR NIUGINI Mess was a young, bespectacled Swiss chef who cooked for all the pilots (and myself) at the mess and also prepared all the in-flight meals. After dinner we would sit on the verandah in the cooling breeze and have long discussions, punctuated by the roar of incoming aircraft. I have forgotten his name and don't know where he is but if somebody knows him or he himself reads this blog, please email me at riverbendnelligen[AT]mail.com . The internet is a small world and I have seen longer odds than finding an old friend this way!
