Australia's Most Punctual Airline Achieves 10th Month on the Podium

Qantas has achieved 10 consecutive months of being the most on-time major domestic airline, despite the challenges of severe weather in June.

It’s the first time since records began in November 2003 that Qantas has recorded 10 straight months of perfect arrival times, and also means Qantas has been on top for 11 of the past 12 months based on federal government figures released today.

Chief Operating Officer Colin Hughes states that “Qantas has been the most on-time major domestic airline for the past 10 months thanks to everyone across the airline who has been working hard to make sure our customers get where they need to go safely and on time.”

Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics (BITRE) data for June shows that Qantas and QantasLink took off on time 71.4% of the time, compared with 67.6% of the time for its major competitor. This translates into thousands of more on-time flights for Qantas passengers.

The performance was below Qantas’ own target of above 80%, chiefly due to bad weather at major airports on 19 out of 30 days. AirServices Australia staffing shortages also had a significant impact on on-time performance in June. 

Hughes stated that “We know cancellations and delays are frustrating, and there will always be things that are out of our control like windy days and runway restrictions.” However, according to Hughes, the results prove that Qantas is recovering and getting back on its feet.

More than 94% of Qantas and QantasLink flights in June took off within an hour of their scheduled departure time. Qantas and QantasLink also canceled fewer flights in June with 3.7% canceled compared to its major competitor’s 4.2%

Improving Expectations

As part of ongoing improvements to service, Qantas will begin customer trials of new boarding procedures from next week. The new procedures aim to reduce the time passengers spend lining up at the gate to board their flight, as well as getting passengers to their seats quicker once they’re onboard.

In these trials, passengers will board in groups based on where they will be seated on the plane, with group numbers included on boarding passes. Premium customers will continue to have a dedicated priority boarding lane. Qantas will also trial new gate infrastructure, signage, and announcements to allow for efficient boarding.

Group boarding procedures are commonly used in Europe and the US, and Qantas has conducted a number of successful trials with staff in recent weeks.

Boarding procedures aren’t the only aspects being upgraded. According to Hughes, “We’ve introduced new menus with bigger serves across all cabins, and we’re well underway on our $100 million expansion and upgrade of our domestic and international lounges.” Qantas is also redesigning its app “so that customers can track their bags and have more flexibility when managing bookings.”

Passengers will be contacted in advance if their flight is involved in a trial and will be invited to participate in a survey following boarding, which will combine with input from frontline employees to fine-tune the new process.

Trials will roll out on flights from Brisbane over the next two weeks followed by other major airports and a wider implementation in October 2023.