Virgin Australia ends Qantas’ reign as most punctual airline as Jetstar returns to being the least reliable

Virgin Australia has taken out on-time performance honours in April after one in five Qantas flights arrived late.

Failed carrier Bonza has already disappeared from monthly on-time performance reports. Picture: Mark Stewart

Qantas’ reign as Australia’s most punctual airline has been cut short by Virgin Australia, which went from last to first in the on-time performance stakes in April.

After a disastrous December and shaky start to 2024, Virgin Australia managed to land 81.4 per cent of flights on time last month, ahead of Qantas on 78.4 per cent.

Jetstar was the least reliable, with 74.9 per cent of flights arriving within 15 minutes of schedule.

Virgin Australia chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka said the airline had been “intensely focused” on improving its performance, and April had marked a return to pre-Covid levels of service.

“The post-Covid recovery has been challenging for the aviation industry, but it is promising to see reliability and on-time performance improve across Australian airlines,” said Ms Hrdlicka.

“We know that on any given day various factors including weather, air traffic control, unscheduled aircraft maintenance, and crew resources can impact airline operations. But our ability to manage these disruptions has improved, while at the same time we have focused on simplifying our growing operation.”

Rex was consistent with 80.7 per cent of flights on time, while QantasLink had the highest cancellation rate of 2.4 per cent or 280 services axed.

A statement from the Qantas Group said that storms in early April affected Jetstar’s overall result, but it was on track for a better performance in May.

“Our people have put in a lot of hard work to improve our reliability, and it’s great to see our results climbing back towards the long-term average,” Qantas operations centre head Daniel Dihen said.

Bonza did not submit data to the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics in what is likely to be the budget carrier’s final month of service.

The US-owned operation went into voluntary administration on April 30 after its small fleet of Boeing 737 Max 8s was repossessed by lessor AIP Capital.

The April on-time performance data coincided with the latest airline monitoring report by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which lamented the collapse of Bonza.

The ACCC noted Bonza was constrained by the size of its fleet and lack of access to Sydney Airport, and said its failure would have a number of implications for the domestic airline industry.

Rex has maintained its reputation as a consistently reliable airline, finishing just behind Virgin Australia in the April on-time performance stakes.

These included a loss of connectivity, particularly in regional areas, where the carrier offered services on 30 routes unserved by others.

“Consumers would also lose the benefit of the limited competition Bonza provided over its seven contested routes, which resulted in consumers enjoying cheaper airfares,” the ACCC report said.

“However, it is the loss of the opportunity for Bonza to develop further into a more meaningful competitor, including with a bigger fleet of aircraft and potentially offering services on the busier intercity routes, that is more significant.”

In its 15 months of operation, Bonza managed to snare a 2 per cent share of the domestic market, which continued to be “highly concentrated”, the ACCC observed.

Throughout the March quarter, Qantas and Jetstar carried 61.8 per cent of domestic travellers, Virgin Australia 31.3 per cent and Rex 5 per cent.

Airfares were generally down across the board, but February had seen a spike in domestic airline revenue of 9 per cent thanks to major event-driven demand.

Seven concerts by US singer Taylor Swift saw Qantas schedule an extra 67 flights, or 11,000 more seats on routes to Melbourne and Sydney, while Virgin Australia also added capacity.

As a result, February was the first month on record to exceed pre-pandemic domestic passenger numbers.

World Wrestling Entertainment in Perth also helped stimulate travel to the West Coast, the report said.