The Australian Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics has published airline on time performance for March 2024, with Jetstar continuing to see record low cancellations.
The monthly survey covers most Australian airlines. This includes Bonza, Hinterland, Jetstar, Qantas, QantasLink, Rex Airlines, Skytrans, Virgin Australia and Virgin Australia Regional Airlines.
Jetstar achieved a cancellation rate of just 1.5% - its lowest in nearly five years, excluding the COVID period where fewer flights occurred. More than 80% of Jetstar flights departed on time in March.
The airline accredits this with improvements made including hiring an additional 1000 staff. They also moved forward check-in and bag drop-off times and hiring dedicated on time performance managers at airports across the country.
During the same period, Jetstar has continued to expand the number of routes available. This includes the announcement of new routes from Sydney to Margaret River, WA, Avalon to Brisbane and Adelaide to the Whitsundays.
Jetstar’s performance beat out Qantas, who had a cancellation rate for the month of 3.8%. 78.2% of Qantas flights departed on time.
Hinterland and Rex airlines continued to have the lowest number of cancellations, at 0.8%. Rex also had the highest on time departure rate of the major airlines, at 79.3%. Virgin was the lowest of the major airlines at 76.2%.
The Sydney to Launceston route had the highest percentage of on-time arrivals across all airlines, at 94%. Darwin to Melbourne had the lowest at just 44.8%.
| Reporting Airlines | Sectors Scheduled | Arrivals On Time % | Departures On Time % | Cancellations % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bonza | 852 | 82.8 | 78.6 | 3.5 |
| Hinterland | 959 | 81.8 | 87.1 | 0.8 |
| Jetstar | 7,335 | 80.9 | 78.3 | 1.5 |
| Qantas - all QF designated services | 20,238 | 77.3 | 78.2 | 3.8 |
| Rex Airlines | 5,552 | 75.5 | 79.3 | 0.8 |
| Skytrans | 402 | 69.2 | 72.3 | 11.2 |
| Virgin Australia - all VA designated services | 12,046 | 75.1 | 76.2 | 2.8 |
| All Airlines | 47,384 | 77.2 | 78.0 | 2.8 |
| Individual operating entities | ||||
| Qantas | 7,868 | 79.8 | 79.6 | 3.9 |
| QantasLink | 12,370 | 75.7 | 77.3 | 3.8 |
| Virgin Australia | 11,665 | 75.4 | 76.7 | 2.8 |
| Virgin Australia Regional Airlines | 381 | 66.6 | 62.0 | 3.4 |
Australian airline departure information for March 2024 (Credit: Australian Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics)