Qantas and Virgin perform poorly in global punctuality stakes

The poor performance of Australia’s major airlines in the global punctuality stakes has prompted calls for compensation for passengers disrupted by long flight delays.

Japanese airlines ANA and JAL took top honours in the 2022 punctuality stakes according to aviation data analyst Cirium. Picture: AFP

An annual snapshot of the world’s most punctual airlines has highlighted the poor performance of Australia’s major carriers, prompting calls for the introduction of a compensation scheme for travellers disadvantaged by delayed flights.

The on-time performance report by aviation analytics firm Cirium showed an average of 31.5 per cent of Qantas flights were delayed in 2022, and 33.4 per cent of Virgin Australia services.

The figures were a long way behind global leaders All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL) both of which operated significantly more flights than either Qantas or Virgin, and landed more than 89 per cent on time.

Other airlines to make the top ten, were US carriers Delta, United and American Airlines, Qatar Airways and KLM (Royal Dutch) Airlines.

Qantas and Virgin Australia ranked fifth and sixth for network carriers in the Asia Pacific region behind ANA, JAL, Malaysia and Philippine Airlines, all of which kept more than 76 per cent of flights to schedule.

Throughout the year, Qantas and Virgin Australia blamed high rates of staff sickness and weather for delays, as on time performance sank to historic lows in the months of April through to July.

Adam Glezer from Consumer Champion who advocated for thousands of disrupted travellers during the Covid pandemic, said it was time Australia adopted a compensation scheme for airline passengers whose flights were significantly delayed or cancelled.

In the European Union, travellers are entitled to compensation of at least $388 when flights are delayed for four hours or more for reasons within the airline’s control.

A similar scheme operates in the UK, with compensation of up to $915 payable to passengers disadvantaged by long flight delays.

Mr Glezer said such payments to passengers would give airlines more incentive to minimise delays and flight cancellations.

“As it stands right now there are no consequences for airlines that delay flights and the only ones who do suffer are the consumers,” he said.

“I have raised it with the federal government and will be continuing to advocate for legislation to be introduced in 2023.”

Australian Federation of Travel Agents CEO Dean Long was not in favour of a scheme that could push airfares even higher, but said the issue of flight delays warranted attention.

“What is clear is there is a market power with only two companies really doing domestic aviation and we need to make sure customer service levels are where they need to be,” Mr Long said.

“We’ve got to work out where Australian Consumer Law has not really worked in travel over the last four or five years and what needs to change.”

A Qantas spokeswoman said Australia had strong consumer laws and a “detailed framework for consumer protection” overseen by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

She said the watchdog had “considerable power which it did not hesitate to use” when concerns arose.

“We understand how frustrating delays and cancellations can be for passengers, which were unacceptably but temporarily high for several months post-Covid,” the spokeswoman said.

“We’ve been working hard to improve our service performance and have seen significant improvements in delays, cancellations and mishandled bags since mid-2022.”

In the event of significant flight delays, Qantas provided meals and accommodation to affected customers, she said.

“We are a customer focused organisation operating in a high competitive environment and we look to go above and beyond our contractual and regulatory obligations to assist customers,” said the spokeswoman.

A Virgin Australia spokesman said the airline had made significant progress since the “challenges” of the sudden ramp up in flying activity in 2022 that were felt globally.

“We are making solid progress in a return to more stable operations,” he said.

Like Qantas, Virgin provided for accommodation, hotel transfers and meals in the event of significant flight delays.

Originally published as Qantas and Virgin perform poorly in global punctuality stakes