In 1931 Ross transferred out of the armed forces and into the civil aviation branch of the Department of Defence, where he worked with Imperial Airways and Qantas to establish air routes between Australia, Singapore, and London.
While serving as consul, Ross also worked with Qantas to explore the possibility of establishing a seaplane route between Australia and Dili.
When still-neutral Portuguese Timor was invaded in February 1942 and occupied by a Japanese army in pursuit of retreating British and Dutch forces, Ross was taken prisoner.
Hoping to negotiate their surrender, Colonel Sadashichi Doi of the Japanese 38th Division sent Ross with a letter of demands to Sparrow Force, a detachment of Australian soldiers who had withdrawn to defensive positions in the mountains.
[2] After the war Ross was appointed Regional Director of Civil Aviation for Western Australia, a position he held from 1948 until his retirement in 1964.