Domestic airline reliability outpaces long-term averages again

In a familiar pattern, Qantas-tagged flights outperformed Virgin flights on arrivals and departures, with 84.4 per cent on-time arrivals and 85.3 per cent on-time departures to Virgin’s 82.7 per cent and 84.1 per cent respectively, but Virgin won on cancellations at 0.8 per cent to 1.9 per cent.

Jetstar lagged behind both for on-time performance, with 78.7 per cent on-time arrivals and 76.2 per cent on-time departures, but finished between Qantas and Virgin on flight completion with only one per cent of flights cancelled.

“More than 85 per cent of Qantas domestic flights departed on time in May thanks to the hard work of our teams,” a Qantas spokesperson said.

“Improving our reliability is a continued focus for us and we’re continuing to invest in initiatives that ensure more of our customers get away on time.”

For Virgin’s part, the airline operated the largest number of flights of any of the three major airlines individually (compared to Qantas domestic and Jetstar), at 364 per day, with a spokesperson noting its continued outperformance on completion rates.

“Virgin Australia continues to record the lowest cancellation rate of the major Australian airlines with a completion rate of 99.2 per cent in May, which translates to less than one per cent of scheduled domestic flights cancelled during the month,” the spokesperson said.

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“Our on-time departure rate for scheduled domestic flights improved to 84.1 per cent, remaining ahead of the long-term average.

“These results reflect the continued efforts of our team across the operation to deliver a safe and reliable experience for our guests.”

The highest-performing airline on all three metrics was Queensland-based regional carrier Hinterland, with 93.3 per cent on-time arrivals, 96.7 per cent on-time departures, and a completion rate of 99.9 per cent.

Participating airlines include Hinterland, Jetstar, Qantas, QantasLink, Rex Airlines, Skytrans Australia, Virgin Australia, and Virgin Australia Regional Airlines.

On-time arrivals (per cent)

• All airlines – 82.1
• Qantas and QantasLink – 84.4
• Virgin Australia and VARA – 82.7
• Hinterland – 93.3
• Qantas – 84.5
• QantasLink – 84.4
• Virgin Australia – 82.8
• Long-term average – 80.5
• Jetstar – 78.7
• Skytrans – 79.5
• Virgin Australia Regional Airlines – 79.0
• Rex – 71.2

On-time departures (per cent)

• All airlines – 82.8
• Qantas and QantasLink – 85.3
• Virgin Australia and VARA – 84.1
• Hinterland – 96.7
• Qantas – 87.8
• Virgin Australia – 84.1
• QantasLink – 83.9
• Virgin Australia Regional Airlines – 82.6
• Long-term average – 81.6
• Skytrans – 80.1
• Jetstar – 76.2
• Rex – 73.7

Cancellations (per cent)

• All airlines – 1.5
• Qantas and QantasLink – 1.9
• Virgin Australia and VARA – 0.8
• QantasLink – 2.3
• Rex – 2.2
• Long-term average – 2.2
• Skytrans – 2.0
• Qantas – 1.4
• Virgin Australia Regional Airlines – 1.4
• Jetstar – 1.0
• Virgin Australia – 0.8
• Hinterland – 0.1