Melburnian1
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- Jun 7, 2013
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The BITRE's domestic airlines' cancellations and punctuality report for November 2016 paints a poor picture of our domestic airlines:
http://bitre.gov.au/publications/ongoing/files/BITRE_OTP_Report_November_2016.pdf
Many timetables are padded by the airlines but Sunshine Coast (Maroochydore) - Melbourne could only manage to have 60 per cent of its flight arrivals on time, which includes a generous 15 minute margin before a flight is counted as 'late.'
Canberra to Sydney led the Australian domestic routes with a cancellation percentage of 5.3 per cent but Melbourne - Sydney, the fourth busiest air route in the world was not far behind with 4.6 per cent.
Jetstar had an appalling cancellation rate from Melbourne to Perth of 7 per cent. Virgin Australia cancelled 5.7 per cent of Melbourne to Sydney flights northbound and 5.9 per cent southbound.
42.2 per cent of Jetstar's Melbourne to Newcastle flights were more than 15 minutes late arriving as were a shocking 46.2 per cent of JQ's Melbourne to Sydney flights. Tigerair's punctuality from Melbourne to Sydney was not great at 64.2 per cent but it was almost 12 percentage points above Jetstar's. Virgin Australia was the only airline northbound from Melbourne to Sydney to record punctuality above 80 per cent and at 80.2 per cent it only scraped in.
From Sydney to Melbourne it was even worse with VA the best operator but only with a punctuality percentage of 71.7 per cent. In contrast, 32.4 per cent of Qantas' Sydney to Melbourne flights - one in every three - were more than 15 minutes late (and others were cancelled.)
While we all accept that a few cancellations are unavoidable due to weather and like any surface or air transport operator, occasional breakdowns in service occur, the airlines advertise among other advantages that they offer (say) a 15 minute or half hourly frequency between SYD and MEL at busier times of Sundays to Fridays - yet some of these flights are often cancelled so that passengers can be 'amalgamated' onto another flight, no doubt at times because bookings are adjudged insufficient to operate the full advertised program.
Imagine the outcry if Woolworths, Coles or IGA only had 95 per cent of their specials available at every store, and it wasn't the fault of the supplier, but a unilateral decision by the supermarket chain that it would not stock an advertised special, or it would only offer the goods at the normal shelf price.
Up In Queensland, Queensland Rail has got itself into all sorts of strife by not being able to operate its full advertised timetable because it lacked (and lacks) sufficient train drivers. This has claimed the scalp of its Chairman and its CEO. There have been numerous media articles with the Queensland transport Minister having to constantly explain himself.
Yet our domestic airlines do this all the time. No one is ever sacked from the airlines because of this.
No one holds them to account. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission does not do anything.
Why should airline passengers who respond to advertising and book what appears to be a service with very good offered frequencies, or who in many cases have rushed days with many appointments, be treated so poorly in comparison to say supermarket shoppers? It may seem a minor inconvenience to have to wait an extra 15 minutes or half an hour for a Sydney to Melbourne flight but it's not if the second one then gets delayed, and the passengers find themselves having to cope with more traffic on the Tullamarine Freeway and CityLink (given Melbourne's sorry lack of a railway line into the CBD from the airport.)
What this appalling performance on our major airline routes again demonstrates is how badly Australia needs high speed trains from Melbourne - Canberra - Sydney and on to the coast and up to the Gold Coast and Brisbane.
I feel sorry for Australia's many business travellers who cannot avoid travelling by air domestically yet have to put up with this shoddy performance when in comparison overseas, thanks to politicians with greater vision than we appear to have in Australia Federally, passengers are able to use high speed rail on many routes as long as Melbourne to Canberra or Sydney, or Sydney to the Gold Coast or Brisbane.
http://bitre.gov.au/publications/ongoing/files/BITRE_OTP_Report_November_2016.pdf
Many timetables are padded by the airlines but Sunshine Coast (Maroochydore) - Melbourne could only manage to have 60 per cent of its flight arrivals on time, which includes a generous 15 minute margin before a flight is counted as 'late.'
Canberra to Sydney led the Australian domestic routes with a cancellation percentage of 5.3 per cent but Melbourne - Sydney, the fourth busiest air route in the world was not far behind with 4.6 per cent.
Jetstar had an appalling cancellation rate from Melbourne to Perth of 7 per cent. Virgin Australia cancelled 5.7 per cent of Melbourne to Sydney flights northbound and 5.9 per cent southbound.
42.2 per cent of Jetstar's Melbourne to Newcastle flights were more than 15 minutes late arriving as were a shocking 46.2 per cent of JQ's Melbourne to Sydney flights. Tigerair's punctuality from Melbourne to Sydney was not great at 64.2 per cent but it was almost 12 percentage points above Jetstar's. Virgin Australia was the only airline northbound from Melbourne to Sydney to record punctuality above 80 per cent and at 80.2 per cent it only scraped in.
From Sydney to Melbourne it was even worse with VA the best operator but only with a punctuality percentage of 71.7 per cent. In contrast, 32.4 per cent of Qantas' Sydney to Melbourne flights - one in every three - were more than 15 minutes late (and others were cancelled.)
While we all accept that a few cancellations are unavoidable due to weather and like any surface or air transport operator, occasional breakdowns in service occur, the airlines advertise among other advantages that they offer (say) a 15 minute or half hourly frequency between SYD and MEL at busier times of Sundays to Fridays - yet some of these flights are often cancelled so that passengers can be 'amalgamated' onto another flight, no doubt at times because bookings are adjudged insufficient to operate the full advertised program.
Imagine the outcry if Woolworths, Coles or IGA only had 95 per cent of their specials available at every store, and it wasn't the fault of the supplier, but a unilateral decision by the supermarket chain that it would not stock an advertised special, or it would only offer the goods at the normal shelf price.
Up In Queensland, Queensland Rail has got itself into all sorts of strife by not being able to operate its full advertised timetable because it lacked (and lacks) sufficient train drivers. This has claimed the scalp of its Chairman and its CEO. There have been numerous media articles with the Queensland transport Minister having to constantly explain himself.
Yet our domestic airlines do this all the time. No one is ever sacked from the airlines because of this.
No one holds them to account. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission does not do anything.
Why should airline passengers who respond to advertising and book what appears to be a service with very good offered frequencies, or who in many cases have rushed days with many appointments, be treated so poorly in comparison to say supermarket shoppers? It may seem a minor inconvenience to have to wait an extra 15 minutes or half an hour for a Sydney to Melbourne flight but it's not if the second one then gets delayed, and the passengers find themselves having to cope with more traffic on the Tullamarine Freeway and CityLink (given Melbourne's sorry lack of a railway line into the CBD from the airport.)
What this appalling performance on our major airline routes again demonstrates is how badly Australia needs high speed trains from Melbourne - Canberra - Sydney and on to the coast and up to the Gold Coast and Brisbane.
I feel sorry for Australia's many business travellers who cannot avoid travelling by air domestically yet have to put up with this shoddy performance when in comparison overseas, thanks to politicians with greater vision than we appear to have in Australia Federally, passengers are able to use high speed rail on many routes as long as Melbourne to Canberra or Sydney, or Sydney to the Gold Coast or Brisbane.
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