Bonza and Jetstar more reliable, punctual than Virgin Australia and Qantas in February

It’s great news for Aussies who fly on budget airlines. Jetstar and Bonza outperform Qantas and Virgin Australia in a surprising area.

Australia’s budget airlines were more punctual and reliable in February than the country’s biggest airlines. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

The budget airlines have come out on top when it comes to punctuality and reliability in February.

Bonza and Jetstar both beat Australia’s biggest airlines, Qantas and Virgin Australia, in domestic on-time performance and having the lowest cancellation rates last month.

The latest figures from the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics (BITRE), released on Friday, show Bonza achieved the highest on time arrivals and departures, both at 81.7 per cent.

The airline, which is just over a year old, operated 789 flights in February.

Jetstar, which operated a significantly more 6631 flights, had the second highest on time arrivals at 76.1 per cent, but fell behind regional airlines Rex Airlines, Skytrans and QantasLink for on time departures.

However, the budget airline, recording 74.3 per cent, still came out ahead of the major airlines, Virgin Australia at 74.1 per cent and Qantas at 71.7 per cent.

Bonza was ranked the best for on time arrivals and departures in February, and had the second lowest rate of cancellations. Picture: Shae Beplate

When it came to cancellations, the budget airlines also did better than Virgin and Qantas.

Rex Airlines, which operated 5388 flights, recorded the lowest percentage of cancellations at 2.1 per cent, followed by Bonza at 2.5 per cent and Jetstar at 2.6 per cent.

Virgin Australia was next in line at 2.8 per cent, followed by Virgin Australia Regional Airlines at 3.8 per cent and then Qantas at 4.3 per cent.

Qantas operated 7015 flights and Virgin Australia operated 10,408 flights.

Qantas said strikes in Western Australia affected its performance. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

Qantas’ regional brand QantasLink, which operated 10,932 flights, recorded the highest percentage of cancellations at 6.8 per cent.

Pilots at Qantas subsidiary Network Aviation, which operates charter flights for FIFO workers and also passenger services under the QantasLink banner, took part in industrial action during the month, causing flight delays and cancellations.

BITRE’s data showed cancellations for the month were highest on routes affected by the strike, including between Perth and Broome, and Perth and Darwin.

Head of Qantas’ operations centre Daniel Dihen said almost 550 flights were cancelled because of seven 24-hour strikes, which accounted for more than half of Qantas’ total cancellations for the month.

“We also moved three Qantas Boeing 737s to Western Australia to help reaccommodate customers and mining charter flying, which also impacted on time performance across our broader network,” he said.

He added: “Data for March so far indicates Qantas is continuing its climb back to pre-covid levels of reliability, with on time performance in the high 70s.”

Jetstar said new aircraft, more frontline staff and bringing forward check-in and baggage times had helped increase its punctuality. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

Jetstar attributed its improvements in reliability to new aircraft, hiring more frontline team members including pilots and cabin crew, and bringing forward check-in and boarding times.

“Our customers told us to do better, and we have delivered with significant improvements in reliability over recent months,” Jetstar’s chief operating officer Matt Franzi said.

“There is always more work to do and we’re continuing to look for ways to make our operations even stronger, including having more aircraft on standby in case things don’t go to plan and another seven new A321neo LR aircraft arriving by the end of the year.

“Our fleet and domestic network are bigger than ever which makes the work of our teams across the country more complicated, and I want to thank them for all of their hard work to make each day smoother than the last.”

A Bonza spokesperson said the airline’s strong performance was proving consistent being top of on-time arrivals for six of the last seven months.

“Our team of legends and partners are working hard to deliver a great experience for our customers, that starts with a low-cost fare, and extends all the way through their Bonza journey, as we believe that paying less shouldn’t mean trading off on reliability or a great quality on-board product,” the spokesperson said.