They are not the fastest — that was the Concorde. Nor the biggest — that is the A380. Nor the most iconic — that is the 747. But in Western Australia (WA), they are the most dependable and rugged workhorses that the massive resource industry relies on every day.
Their roots can be traced to the Red Baron’s famous Fokker triplane in World War I and Sir Charles Kingsford Smith’s 1928 first crossing of the Pacific in a Fokker trimotor.
It is the Fokker 60 to 100-seat F-28 family of twin-jets, from the famous Dutch company founded by Anthony Fokker in 1912. And for 50 years, tens of thousands have used them every day to go to work over the vast and hostile expanses of WA.
The latest version of the F28, the (F-28-010) F100, dominates Western Australia’s Perth Airport with 43 aircraft in the colors of four airlines — Network Aviation, flying as QantasLink, Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (VARA), Alliance Airlines, and Skipper Aviation — in intense competition for the fly-in, fly-out resources market.
For the past five decades, the F28 and F100 have become the benchmark for the resource industry and regional air services throughout WA, which involves short runways, big payloads, and the blisteringly high temperatures of the north-west environment.
“It could not be further from its original intended use, and what a success story it has been in this demanding place,” former Network Aviation and Skywest Airlines chief executive Hugh Davin said.
“Perth has the largest fleet of F100s in the world, with multiple daily services operated to nearly every major mining activity in the State and many regional communities. The aircraft is loved by pilots and passengers alike and is presenting one of the industry’s greater challenges — what do you replace the F100 with as it fades into WA’s rich aviation history over the next decade?”
The F28 started full-scale operations in WA in 1970 when MacRobertson Miller Airlines took delivery of three, then another two the following year, signaling the start of a local love affair with the Dutch treat.
Over the decades, the F28 and F100 have also been branded East-West Airlines, Airlines of Western Australia, Ansett WA, then Ansett, and also Skywest Airlines, the forerunner of VARA.
Mr. Davin has seen the success of the Fokker jet over almost 40 years. “There is something very special about this aircraft,” he said.
The pilots’ love of the Fokker jet is built on its ability to go anywhere and take huge punishment. One was forced to land at night at Fitzroy Crossing, guided by car lights on a gravel runway when fog closed Derby Airport, and it ran out of fuel just as it turned off the runway.
Another suffered an extremely hard landing in a severe wind-shear event in the North West but was flown out for repairs. Any other jet would have been written off.
A number of F28s were used to evacuate residents of Darwin after cyclone Tracey in 1975, carrying double the number of passengers and overweight.
Mark Davey, executive general manager of VARA, said the F100’s ability to operate on remote airstrips with minimum ground support and infrastructure was a big plus. “The versatility and reliability of the Fokker 100 make it an ideal aircraft for our operations,” he said.
Network Aviation’s chief operating officer Nathan Miller is also effusive about the F100. “It is an amazing and honest aircraft and one we can depend on. Pilots love it, engineers love it, and so do the passengers, and in so many ways this design was way ahead of its time.” Network, which operates the QantasLink-branded fleet, has 17 F100s in service.
Alliance Airline chief executive Lee Schofield agrees on the advanced design. “It was way ahead of its time and the F100 is flying in a sweet spot. Issues are addressed, and it has very few maintenance problems. It is a real shame they are no longer in production.”
It was the Fokker company’s attention to quality that was a major part of its undoing in 1996 when it filed for bankruptcy as it couldn’t compete with lower-cost competitors.
Brisbane-based Alliance Airlines is the biggest operator of the F100 with 43 in service, 13 of them in Perth.
The Perth-based airline chiefs agree the Fokker twin-jet is a great story. “While some aircraft have vices and are temperamental, the F100 and its older sibling the F28 are honest and dependable. They are near-perfect for WA’s demanding conditions and that is why we have the largest fleet based here,” Mr. Miller said.
He added his engineers had great respect for the Dutch designers and workers who put the jet together. “They are in awe,” Mr. Miller said.
