Australia's airlines have just notched up their worst on-time performance figures since recording commenced in November 2003. The Australian Government's Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics (BITRE) has released April's on-time and cancelation data, revealing the country's biggest airlines - Jetstar, Qantas, QantasLink, Rex Airlines, Virgin Australia, and Virgin Australia Regional Airlines, averaged 63.6% for on-time arrivals and 62.2% for on-time departures.
Lousy on-time performance for Australia's airlines in April
The month of April included a number of high-traffic events, such as Easter, school holidays, and the ANZAC Day weekend when short-staffed airlines and airports threw the travel plans of tens of thousands of passengers into chaos and contributed to the less than stellar on-time performance of airlines that month.
"This month’s on time arrivals figure was significantly lower than the long term average performance for all routes (82.2%) and the on time departures figure was also significantly lower than the long term average (83.5%)," a BITRE statement says. "The rate of cancellations was higher than the long-term average of 2.0%.
The six airlines BITRE monitored flew 43,409 of 45,247 scheduled flights in April, giving an overall cancelation rate of 4.1%. Across the six airlines, QantasLink canceled 591 flights (5.4%) in April; Qantas canceled 426 flights (5.0%); Jetstar canceled 401 flights (4.9%), Virgin Australia Regional Airlines canceled 15 flights (3.2%), Virgin Australia canceled 338 flights (3.1%): and Rex canceled 67 flights (1.1%).
Rex does best in terms of cancelations and on-time performance
In terms of on-time performance, low-cost carrier Jetstar fared worse. In April, Jetstar's average on-time arrival rate was 59.2% and the average on-time departures rate was 55.2%. In aviation, "on-time" is defined as within 15 minutes of a scheduled arrival or departure time. That's an exceedingly generous window that can mask all manner of on-time sloppiness. Five minutes might be a more appropriate window, especially on short to medium-haul domestic flights.
Qantas recorded an average on-time arrival rate of 58.7% in April and an average on-time departure rate of 57.7%. Qantas' regional subsidiary QantasLink fared slightly better, recording an average on-time arrival rate of 62.4% in April and an average on-time departure rate of 62.0%.
Virgin Australia managed an average on-time arrival rate of 65.6% in April and an average on-time departure rate of 62.7%. Its Perth-based fly-in-fly-out focused subsidiary Virgin Australia Regional Airlines, better known as VARA, recorded an average on-time arrival rate of 69.1% and an average on-time departure rate of 64.2%.
And giving Rex something to crow about, their average on-time arrival rate in April was 73.6% and its average on-time departure rate was 76.4% - leaving its rivals in the dust that month.
The Qantas Group trails when it comes to cancelations & on-time performance
Jetstar's performance as the worst on-time airline in April might be unsurprising - after all, booking a cut-price ticket on a low-cost carrier kind of comes with an implied caveat that schedules are flexible things. But Qantas styles itself as Australia's premium airline (and charges accordingly) yet it gives its low-cost subsidiary a run for its money when it comes to poor on-time performance.
Qantas also had the second-highest cancelation rate in April, with only QantasLink doing worse. The Qantas Group of airlines, comprising these three carriers, did worse on all the on-time performance and cancelation metrics in April.
While Rex did best, April's on-time and cancelation figures also point to the resurgence of Virgin Australia. The airline has reinvented itself as a mid-market carrier with prices to match and is now doing very well. And judging by BITRE's April stats, passengers on Virgin Australia services have a better chance of getting to their destination on time than flying on Qantas, plus they'll save a few bucks in the process.