Qantas has notched up its 15th consecutive month as the most reliable major domestic airline, though a variety of factors meant on time performance in November was below target levels.
The latest government data released today shows that Qantas, Qantas and QantasLink combined, (68.1 per cent) was more than 11 percentage points ahead of its main domestic competitor (57 per cent) for on time departures. This translates into thousands of more on time flights for Qantas customers.
Qantas also cancelled fewer flights in November with 3.3 per cent cancelled compared to its major competitor’s 6.2 per cent.
Jetstar had two thirds (66.7 per cent) of its flights depart on time, while 2.7 per cent of flights were cancelled.
November was a challenging month operationally, with major storm activity on both the east and west coasts of the country and air traffic control issues. There were also a significant number of engineering related delays, with safety always coming before schedule.
The unacceptably high number of cancellations on Qantas’ Canberra-Sydney flights has continued to drop, with a change in fleet mix used to help protect the route from disruption on the airline’s regional network. In November, less than 4 per cent of flights were cancelled, down from 10 per cent in October.
The Qantas Group has recently affirmed its broad support for reforms to the slot system at Sydney Airport as recommended by the Harris Review, and rejected suggestions it is hoarding slots. A one page explanation can be found here.
DECEMBER TO DATE
Qantas remains focused on getting customers to their destinations on time more often and is on track to be the best performing domestic airline for the 16th month in a row in December.
Around 70 per cent of Qantas flights have departed on time so far in December, including accounting for the impact of Tropical Cyclone Jasper, and it continues to have around half the cancellation rate of its major domestic competitor.
Qantas and Jetstar have put a number of contingency plans in place to prepare for the busy Summer holiday period such as having up to 13 jet aircraft on standby, including an Airbus A380, boosting the number of reserve staff and bringing forward maintenance activities.
Qantas is also continuing to implement improvements to fix pain points for customers. Improvements already rolled out include more Frequent Flyer reward seats, a major upgrade to the Qantas app that incorporates baggage tracking and better inflight catering. More details of the initiatives can be found here.