Consumer watchdog reveals the airline with more complaints than any other company

The ACCC has named the Australian airline that was the subject of more complaints than any other company in the last year, and why one excuse for high airfares must end.

Qantas was the subject of more complaints to the consumer watchdog than any other company in 2021-22 prompting a warning from the ACCC the airline needs to do better.

In its latest airline monitoring report, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said 1740 “contacts” were made about Qantas in 2021-22, up 68 per cent on the previous year.

The figure was “the most of any company” and over a third higher than the second most reported company which was not named in the report.

The spike in complaints came at a time when Qantas was struggling with mishandled bags, the administration of travel credits and flight delays and cancellations.

In contrast the number of contacts about Jetstar fell 33 per cent to 544, and there were 27 per cent fewer complaints about Virgin Australia with 359.

The ACCC received the most complaints about Qantas in the 2021-22 period.

The ACCC said while a “contact” did not necessarily mean there had been a breach of the law, an increased number of contacts indicated a high level of dissatisfaction with that company.

“As Australia’s largest airline, and an airline that generally charges a premium to fly, consumers expect a better service,” the ACCC report said.

"Qantas needs to do more to adequately invest in its systems, processes and people to dramatically improve its customer contact services and customer dispute resolution.”

A Qantas spokesman said there were times last year when they didn’t perform at their best, and they apologised to customers.

“Since then, thanks to hard work from people across our business, things have improved and we are getting Qantas back to its best,” said the spokesman.
“We’ve been the most on-time of the major domestic airlines for five months in a row and our service levels across bags, cancellations and call centres are back to similar or better levels than pre-Covid.

“We’ve also made significant progress to speed up our refund processes and made it easier for customers to use their flight credits.”

The ACCC said it was continuing to investigate issues raised by consumers about Qantas, particularly in relation to travel credits.

The report also made the point that high fuel prices were no long a valid excuse for high airfares, with the cost of jet fuel actually falling 35 per cent since mid-2022.

In recent weeks Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has highlighted a “65 per cent increase in fuel prices” as the reason for soaring fares particularly on international routes.

ACCC commissioner Anna Brakey said the price of fuel had been falling since its mid-2022 peak due to the war in Ukraine.

“The price of jet fuel has been trending down which should enable airlines to reduce airfares further in coming months,” Ms Brakey said.

The report showed domestic airfares had decreased by 13 per cent since December 2022, but remained 13 per cent above pre-pandemic levels.

At the same time, domestic passenger numbers fell in January compared to the October 2022 peak, and represented about 89 per cent of pre-Covid traffic.

The fall coincided with an increase in airline capacity, resulting in a 75 per cent average load factor compared to 77 per cent in January 2019.

“The three largest routes in Australia — those connecting Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney — are lagging in their passenger volume recovery compared to other routes connecting larger cities,” said the report. “Melbourne-Sydney was the worst performing of the three with passengers in January 2023 equivalent to 77 per cent of pre-Covid levels.”

The ACCC said that reflected the greater significance of business travel on those routes, with demand for business travel returning more slowly than leisure travel.

Complaints for Jetstar and Virgin fell during the same period. Picture: Brendan Radke

High demand for leisure travel helped Jetstar lift its market share over the summer holiday period almost 4 percentage points to 26.9 per cent.

Much of that increase came at the expense of parent Qantas which saw its slice of the market fall 3 per cent to 34.8 per cent, largely due to the seasonal decrease in business travel.

Virgin Australia maintained a 33.4 per cent market share for the October to January period, while Rex saw its customer base increase to 5.8 per cent in November, before falling to 4.9 per cent in January.

The entry of budget carrier Bonza into the domestic market was acknowledged by Ms Brakey who described the new operator as “good news for Australian consumers”.

“The new budget airline will provide travellers on the east coast of Australia with new and direct connections, as well as competition on certain routes,” she said.