With posturing from both AOA and Australian National Airways (ANA) to cut into each other’s turf by late 1936, early efforts by ANA to gain a controlling interest in AOA failed, until the tragic losses of VH-UHH "Brisbane" in the McPherson Ranges on 19 February 1937 and VH-UGG "Lismore" on 28 March halved AOA’s main-line fleet. A merger took effect in March 1937, although the two companies retained separate identities until AOA was formally absorbed into ANA on 1 July 1942. The two surviving Stinsons were then renamed VH-UKK "Binana" and VH-UYY "Tokana", in conformity with ANA nomenclature.