A senior Qantas executive attempted to hose down heavy criticism of the airline on the weekend, publishing an open letter explaining why the airline was "not delivering the service that our customers expect." Qantas is under intense scrutiny for its abnormally high levels of cancelations, delays, lost luggage, stranded passengers, and generally very average customer service. Qantas Domestic and International CEO Andrew David says the airline is working hard to overcome these recurring problems but also warns they aren't over yet.

It's a complex flying environment says a Qantas executive

In a lengthy statement published on the Qantas website on the weekend, Mr David admitted that COVID-19 and flu-related sickness combined with labor shortages had significantly impacted the airline. Mr David's comments coincide with another hectic weekend at Australia's biggest airports as school holidays conclude and families head home.

Qantas and its low-cost subsidiary Jetstar anticipated flying 350,000 passengers across their domestic networks as the holidays ended. Reports from Australia's busiest airport, Sydney (SYD), on Sunday morning suggest that once again, cancelations were spiking, and passengers in crowded arrivals halls were taking hours to get their baggage.

"Much has been said about Qantas in the last few months," said Mr David. "Some of it's fair, as we're absolutely not delivering the service that our customers expect, but some of it fails to take into consideration what's happening across the industry here and around the world.

"Restarting an airline after a two-year grounding is complex, and aviation labour markets, as with many others, are extremely tight. Compounding that is the fact that COVID cases are steeply on the rise again at the same time as the winter flu season."

Qantas stretches passenger patience very thin

Demand for international and domestic flights in the Australian market has recovered nicely. But airlines are unable to lay on enough flights to meet this demand. Like airlines elsewhere, Qantas has cut the number of flights it planned to operate over the next few months. What planes are flying are flying full, and there's not a lot of wriggle room to re-accommodate passengers from flights canceled at short notice.

An ongoing pattern of bad weather and storms on Australia's east coast, primarily impacting Sydney, is adding to the disruptive mix. Recently released airline data revealed Qantas had Australia's worst domestic cancelation rate in May - one in 13 flights. However, with Qantas charging a premium for its flights and trading heavily on its reputation for customer service, passenger expectations generally adjust upwards to match the price premium. But social media, airline forums, and mainstream media are alive with travel horror stories with one common denominator - Qantas.

While Mr David thanked long-suffering customers for their "patience and understanding," he also took aim at what he called baseless and false safety scaremongering tactics. Qantas is at the receiving end of a sustained union campaign that is seeing some pretty wild allegations making their way into the media. But Mr David says it isn't the first time unions have made false claims to further their industrial agenda.

Problems not over yet warns Qantas boss

Andrew David says airlines, airports, air traffic control agencies, and almost every business in Australia and elsewhere face challenges delivering their usual levels of customer service. He says Qantas is working to overcome the recurring problems but says while COVID lingers, so will cancelations and disruptions.

"We've recruited more than 1000 people, rostering more people on stand-by, consolidating flights onto bigger aircraft, basing more customer support team members at our airports, and have doubled the number of people working in our call centers, with average wait times now better than they were pre-COVID," he said.

"Given COVID and flu will be ongoing, there will be a few more bumps along the way, but over the weeks and months ahead flying will get back to being as smooth as it used to be."