Qantas flights cancelled due to pilot shortages, maintenance issues

Passengers have faced hours-long delays as they waited for new flights out of Aussie capitals, including Adelaide.

A perfect storm of the nation’s pilot shortage and maintenance issues forced the cancellation of 11 Qantas flights from Australian capital cities on Sunday.

Three flights were cancelled because of the pilot shortage caused by flight delays on Saturday, while maintenance issues were behind another eight.

All flights were from Australian capital cities including Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane.

UPDATE: Qantas worst hit again as Virgin, Jetstar cancel flights too

The airline said all affected passengers were put onto other flights either Qantas aircraft or other services.

“While we understand that any flight delay or cancellation is frustrating, most customers were re-accommodated within a few hours of their original flight,” a Qantas spokeswoman said.

The 11 Sunday flights equalled just more than 3 per cent of Qantas services, which was also slightly above the average daily cancellation rate for the past few months which has sat at 2-3 per cent.

The Advertiser understands Qantas pilots operate multiple sectors a day, with disruptions to one service having a domino effect on others.

The airline last week released the findings of a review undertaken by Qantas to address reputational damage, with a key element that former CEO Alan Joyce should be denied $9.36m in bonuses for 2023.

That would reduce his package for that year from $24m to $14.9m, and relates to short and long-term bonuses.

Chairman-elect John Mullen said the review of key governance matters found mistake had been made by the airline’s board and management that contributed to reputational issues.

They included lawsuits over so-called ghost flight ticket sales and the illegal outsourcing of workers; customer service shortcomings such as late flights and lost baggage; the handling of Covid travel credits; Mr Joyce’s $17m share sale, and; support levels for frontline employees.

Former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce. Picture: Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg via Getty Images

It comes as Qantas axes its Perth-London non-stop flight due to soaring tensions in the Middle East.

The 17-hour flight will now stop in Singapore before taking an alternative route that avoids risky airspace, the airline said on Thursday.

The national carrier was in July revealed as the “most punctual domestic airline” in June, with about 80 per cent of Qantas flights departing on time.

Qantas cancelled 3.3 per cent of flights in June with fog and ice affecting numerous airports including Melbourne and Canberra.

A Qantas spokesman at the time said: “We know how important punctuality is to customer satisfaction and we are continuing to get customers to their destination on time more often.”