Qantas aims for smoother, faster boarding with new process

The aim of trials starting next week is to make boarding ‘quicker’, as on-time performance data shows flight delays and cancellations continue to plague domestic carriers.

Qantas will begin a trial of new boarding procedures next week, in the hope of further improving on-time performance. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Jeremy Piper

Qantas will start a new boarding trial next week in an effort to speed up the process of getting passengers on to planes as new data shows delays and cancellations continue to plague domestic carriers.

On-time performance data for June released by the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics showed Virgin Australia replaced Jetstar as the worst airline for cancellations.

A total of 4.7 per cent or almost 500 flights were cancelled across the Virgin Australia group, due in part to high levels of illness among crew.

At the same time, more than a third of Virgin Australia flights arrived behind schedule with Jetstar and Qantas recording similar results.

QantasLink and regional carrier Skytrans were the best performers in the punctuality stakes, while Rex had the lowest rate of cancellations at 2.2 per cent.

The data came as Qantas prepared to trial new boarding procedures next week, with customers to be assigned group numbers based on where they were seated on the plane.

Passengers flying out of Brisbane will be the first to test the new process with Qantas also trialling new gate infrastructure, signage and announcements.

Customers whose flights are part of the trial, will be contacted in advance about the change and invited to take part in a survey after boarding. The views of cabin crew will also be canvassed to help finetune the process.

Following the trial, Qantas was expecting to implement the new process more widely from October.

Qantas chief operating officer Colin Hughes said the aim was to make boarding “smoother and quicker for everyone”.

The changes would coincide with a major redesign of the Qantas app, to allow customers to track their bags and have more flexibility when managing bookings, Mr Hughes added.

“We’ve also introduced new menus with bigger serves across all cabins, and we’re well underway on our $100m expansion and upgrade of our domestic and international lounges,” he said.

Mr Hughes said Qantas was already “getting back to its best” in terms of flight delays and cancellations which had plagued all carriers since travel ramped up last year.

“We know cancellations and delays are frustrating, and there will always be things that are out of our control like windy days and runway restrictions,” he said.

“But these (BITRE) results show we’re getting back to our best, and we’re looking to be even better.”

Jetstar has finally ended its run as Australia’s worst airline for flight delays and cancellations. Picture: Brendan Radke

Jetstar was also keen to highlight the improvement in its performance after consistently being the worst airline for delays and cancellations for the last 12 months.

Chief operations officer Matthew Franzi said the low fares carrier had turned a corner.

“We’ve seen significant improvements in our punctuality and reliability with more flights taking off and arriving on time and fewer services cancelled,” Mr Franzi said.

“The work is not over yet as we continue to invest in new aircraft and hire more people.”

A ninth new Airbus A321neo was due to arrive this month, and 1000 new staff had been hired this year.

“While no airline can guarantee there won’t ever be disruptions due to things like weather or engineering issues, we’re now much better placed to get customers on their way if things don’t go to plan,” said Mr Franzi.

“We’ve made these improvements while continuing to offer millions of low fares and launching new routes.”