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Qantas had the highest rate of on-time arrivals and departures for May in what was generally good month for all domestic carriers in terms of punctuality, new figures show.
The Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) report showed 89.6 per cent of Qantas’s flights arrived on-time, while 90.8 per cent of the Flying Kangaroo’s domestic services pushed back for departure on-time.
Virgin Australia, which has been battling Qantas for punctuality honours over the past year, was next best with an 88.8 per cent on-time arrival performance and 90.3 per cent on-time departure performance in May.
The BITRE report defines a flight as on-time if it leaves or arrives within 15 minutes of the published schedule.
Meanwhile, Regional Express (Rex) was the best of the regional carriers, with 86 per cent of on-time arrivals and 88.5 per cent of on-time departures.
And it was a split decision in the battle of Australia’s two low-cost carriers. Although Jetstar edged out Tigerair Australia for arrivals (84.3 per cent versus 82.2 per cent), the Virgin-owned Tiger bested Qantas’s subsidiary Jetstar in terms of departures (84.6 per cent versus 84 per cent).
The BITRE report said it was a good month for all domestic travellers, with the on-time performance in May well above the long-term average for both arrivals and departures. Moreover, Virgin Australia Regional Airlines was the only airline not to improve its punctuality percentages in May, compared with the previous month.
On-time departures for May (figure in brackets indicates percentage point change from previous month)
Qantas 90.8% (+2.9)
Virgin 90.3% (+3.4)
Rex 88.5% (+3.0)
QantasLink 86.8% (+5.1)
Virgin Australia Regional 84.7% (-0.3)
Tigerair 84.6% (+3.8)
Jetstar 84.0% (+7.4)
Virgin network 89.2% (+2.7)
Qantas network 88.7% (+4.0)
On-time arrivals for May (figure in brackets indicates change from previous month)
Qantas 89.6% (+3.6)
Virgin 88.8% (+4.0)
Rex 86.0% (+3.9)
QantasLink 85.1% (+5.6)
Jetstar 84.3% (+6.4)
Virgin Australia Regional 83.4% (-0.2)
Tigerair 82.2% (+3.3)
Virgin network 87.8% (+3.2)
Qantas network 87.3% (+4.7)
(Source: BITRE)
Craigy
says:Interesting but without knowing the comparative fleet size, the statistics aren’t much use.
John
says:we all know timetable are padded.
Look at eg. SYD/MNL
1 PR 212 X24 SYD 1 MNL 2 1030 1700 0 05APR15 03OCT15 330 8:30
2 5J7296 X15 SYD 1 MNL 3 1135 1730 0 25JUN15 04AUG15 330 7:55
3 QF 019 1356 SYD 1 MNL 1 1210 1830 0 04JUL15 13JUL15 333 8:20
all airlines flying nonstop have same or very similar aircraft A330’s, BUT & it’s a big but, the LCC Cebu Pacific, gets you there 25 mins faster than QF & 35 mins faster than PR (not).
So 5J is honest, but misses out on OTP, whereas PR & QF can be 20-30 mins late & still be on time.
5J is probably carrying many more pax at 436 seats than the others.
Let’s have a bit of honesty when it comes to OTP please.
Keg
says:Qantas doesn’t ‘pad’ it’s schedules. They’re generally what is achievable 65% of the time.
As an example, the original schedule between MEL and SYD was 1:20. These days it’s 1:25 to reflect what it actually takes. SYD- MEL was 1:20 but unachievable using 34R for departures. Significant additional fuel was burned by multiple airliners at FL280 going max speed to try and not be more than 5-10 minutes late. With short transits this has a knock on effect throughout the day.
So Qantas amended its schedule as to what was achievable most of the time. If Cebu is too silly to have a schedule that reflects the reality of the flight then that’s their fault. It’s got nothing to do with running late.
John
says:ah hello Keg, the SYD/MNL example above shows something is up. What does it takes QF 25 mins longer than 5J who are an ULCC ?