Melburnian1
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The latest BITRE report shows a decline in May 2019 overall domestic airline timekeeping compared to May 2018.
VA was the most punctual overall for 'mainline' flights with 15.5 per cent of operating flights 15 or more minutes late arriving. JQ - unusually - was next with 16 per cent officially late, QF had 16.5 per cent 15 minutes or more trady arriving while TT (in an improvement) had 24.6 per cent 15 minutes or more late at destination.
Cancellations continued to be very high with the MEL - SYD - MEL route again worst at 6.3 per cent northbound and 6.2 per cent southbound. QF cancelled a shocking 7.7 per cent of flight (87) northbound while VA in the same direction gave the boot to 55 flights (7.2 per cent.) Southbound cancellations for QF were 7.7 per cent and for VA 6.8 per cent. TT's 10 cancellations each way represented 4 per cent of scheduled flights in both directions while JQ cancelled a more acceptable percentage of 1.4 per cent each way (five flights in each direction receiving the boot.)
While some of these cancellations would have been due to adverse weather, others may be from defective aircraft, low bookings or other factors.
Even though some cancellations will have been during weekday peaks when flights can be timetabled on the world's second busiest route every 15 minutes, it's still a failure by the airlines to operate the flights they book us on. Commuters in Sydney aren't impressed if Sydney Trains cancels two trips in succession and leaves them with an eight or 10 minute wait on a busy rail line, and nor should air travellers be pleased with cancellations. Air travel between the capitals is often very expensive at peak times and there's an expectation that one is paying for speed and reliability (with safety a given.)
Compared to high speed rail where trains are generally only affected if there are very high winds, and manage on many routes worldwide to achieve 99 per cent plus punctuality (with a lower threshold for lateness than the airlines' 15 minutes) and few if any cancellations, the continuing reliance on largely uncomfortable B738s and A320s between MEL, CBR, SYD and OOL/ BNE is for the shorter journeys a poor deal for travellers. High speed rail wouldn't replace the majority of MEL - OOL/BNE air trips but it sure would for MEL - CBR/SYD or BNE/OOL - SYD.
16.4 per cent of VA's MEL - SYD flights were 15 or more minutes late, while for QF the percentage was 17.8, for JQ 24.2 and for TT 29.7 per cent. Southbound (SYD to MEL) timekeeping was worse with 18 per cent of VA's flights, 24.3 per cent of QF's, 18.6 per cent of JQ's and 33.1 per cent of TT's officially late.
Not all intrastate rural routes have two or more competitors (and hence if not, aren't publicly disclosed) but partly reflecting weather, 24 to 32 per cent of QantasLink flights between SYD and ABX/ARM/TMW were at least 15 minutes late arriving.
In contrast, timekeeping on intrastate rural routes ex and into PER on the other side of the island continent was pretty good.
While TT has about a third of the flights of the other three mainline operators between MEL and HBA, southbound TT was by far the best timekeeper with only 10.3 per cent of flights 15 or more minutes late compared to 26.8 per cent for JQ, QF at 25.2 and VA at 21.7 per cent officially late. It is unusual for TT to beat any of the other three on any route: with few exceptions, it's usually the worst, often by a big margin.
With 19.9 per cent of arrivals 15 minutes or more late in MEL (and a slightly better 18.7 per cent in SYD), these two airports continue to drag down overall punctuality.
20.1 per cent of QF flights were at least 15 minutes late into MEL, while for VA the figure was 18.7 per cent.
MEL is likely to cope poorly with any increase in flights should the currently pretty much stagnant passenger numbers eventually commence again rising. Its third runway - which may be in the wrong spot, being east-west - is years off. AFFer AviatorInsight sagaciously ranked it as the worst of the three major east coast airports to operate in and out of.
VA was the most punctual overall for 'mainline' flights with 15.5 per cent of operating flights 15 or more minutes late arriving. JQ - unusually - was next with 16 per cent officially late, QF had 16.5 per cent 15 minutes or more trady arriving while TT (in an improvement) had 24.6 per cent 15 minutes or more late at destination.
Cancellations continued to be very high with the MEL - SYD - MEL route again worst at 6.3 per cent northbound and 6.2 per cent southbound. QF cancelled a shocking 7.7 per cent of flight (87) northbound while VA in the same direction gave the boot to 55 flights (7.2 per cent.) Southbound cancellations for QF were 7.7 per cent and for VA 6.8 per cent. TT's 10 cancellations each way represented 4 per cent of scheduled flights in both directions while JQ cancelled a more acceptable percentage of 1.4 per cent each way (five flights in each direction receiving the boot.)
While some of these cancellations would have been due to adverse weather, others may be from defective aircraft, low bookings or other factors.
Even though some cancellations will have been during weekday peaks when flights can be timetabled on the world's second busiest route every 15 minutes, it's still a failure by the airlines to operate the flights they book us on. Commuters in Sydney aren't impressed if Sydney Trains cancels two trips in succession and leaves them with an eight or 10 minute wait on a busy rail line, and nor should air travellers be pleased with cancellations. Air travel between the capitals is often very expensive at peak times and there's an expectation that one is paying for speed and reliability (with safety a given.)
Compared to high speed rail where trains are generally only affected if there are very high winds, and manage on many routes worldwide to achieve 99 per cent plus punctuality (with a lower threshold for lateness than the airlines' 15 minutes) and few if any cancellations, the continuing reliance on largely uncomfortable B738s and A320s between MEL, CBR, SYD and OOL/ BNE is for the shorter journeys a poor deal for travellers. High speed rail wouldn't replace the majority of MEL - OOL/BNE air trips but it sure would for MEL - CBR/SYD or BNE/OOL - SYD.
16.4 per cent of VA's MEL - SYD flights were 15 or more minutes late, while for QF the percentage was 17.8, for JQ 24.2 and for TT 29.7 per cent. Southbound (SYD to MEL) timekeeping was worse with 18 per cent of VA's flights, 24.3 per cent of QF's, 18.6 per cent of JQ's and 33.1 per cent of TT's officially late.
Not all intrastate rural routes have two or more competitors (and hence if not, aren't publicly disclosed) but partly reflecting weather, 24 to 32 per cent of QantasLink flights between SYD and ABX/ARM/TMW were at least 15 minutes late arriving.
In contrast, timekeeping on intrastate rural routes ex and into PER on the other side of the island continent was pretty good.
While TT has about a third of the flights of the other three mainline operators between MEL and HBA, southbound TT was by far the best timekeeper with only 10.3 per cent of flights 15 or more minutes late compared to 26.8 per cent for JQ, QF at 25.2 and VA at 21.7 per cent officially late. It is unusual for TT to beat any of the other three on any route: with few exceptions, it's usually the worst, often by a big margin.
With 19.9 per cent of arrivals 15 minutes or more late in MEL (and a slightly better 18.7 per cent in SYD), these two airports continue to drag down overall punctuality.
20.1 per cent of QF flights were at least 15 minutes late into MEL, while for VA the figure was 18.7 per cent.
MEL is likely to cope poorly with any increase in flights should the currently pretty much stagnant passenger numbers eventually commence again rising. Its third runway - which may be in the wrong spot, being east-west - is years off. AFFer AviatorInsight sagaciously ranked it as the worst of the three major east coast airports to operate in and out of.
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