Qantas falls behind in flight punctuality

Qantas has slipped down the annual ratings of the most punctual airlines in the world.

Qantas slipped from sixth to 18th for punctuality.

Qantas has slipped down the annual ratings of the most punctual airlines in the world, and was also yesterday forced to cancel flights into the nation’s capital due to the bushfire crisis.

The airline cancelled a swath of flights into Canberra on Sunday as thick bushfire smoke made for dangerous conditions.

The decision came as Qantas slipped on the annual punctuality ratings issued by airline data consultant OAG, diving from overall sixth in 2018 to 18th in the latest annual edition — easily beaten by its own low-cost international carrier Jetstar Asia, which ranked eighth.

OAG tracks the departure times of airlines around the globe, and ranks airlines based on how many of their flights arrive or depart within 15 minutes of their scheduled time.

Its monitoring system also counts cancelled flights as late departures.

Garuda Indonesia and Panamanian carrier Copa Airlines took out the top two spots in 2019, with 95 per cent and 92 per cent ratings respectively.

In 2018 85.7 per cent of Qantas flights made that 15 minute window, and 84.1 per cent of Jetstar Asia flights — putting the low-cost carrier in 12th place globally.

But Qantas’s timeliness slipped 2.7 per cent in 2019, sending it plummeting down the rankings, with Jetstar Asia posting a 1.4 per cent improvement to overtake its parent airline.

It came in a year of cost-cutting by Australia’s national carrier, as chief executive Alan Joyce targeted higher profit margins. In August the group recorded a record annual group revenue of $17.97bn, but pre-tax profit slipped 17 per cent to $1.3bn. In OAG’s performance rankings, both Qantas and Jetstar were beaten by Russia’s Aeroflot, which got 86.3 per cent of its passengers away on time through the year, and ranked 6th overall.

Perth airport was the most improved Australian terminal in 2019, getting 83.6 per cent of its passengers in or out within the scheduled window, making it the fourth-best medium-sized airport in the world. Perth came fourth in the category, beaten by Panama City, with 92.2 per cent timeliness.

And Sydney and Melbourne both slipped one place in the rankings. The country’s two biggest airports were ranked 17th and 18th in 2018, with 76.1 per cent and 74.7 per cent timeliness respectively, dropping a single place each with 74 per cent and 73.8 per cent in 2019.

The pair are ranked as “major” airports by OAG, a category won by Istanbul Sabiha Gokhen, which had 83.4 per cent timeliness in 2019.

Of the world’s biggest airports — defined as having more than 30 million departing passengers a year — the best place to fly to get out on time is Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, with 86.9 per cent timeliness. London’s Heathrow came in 13th with 75.3 per cent.