Thanks for all the hard work throughout this past year… happy new year!! And hopefully less work for all of us with MORE on time departures!!
A small number of observations for the last few weeks:
QFi's punctuality is variable, but in the last couple of weeks it has improved. Touch wood. Early January will be a good test as for instance more of the A380s seem to be scheduled most days. Goodness knows when A380 VH-OQC will again carry passengers: it is still in LAX.
Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese airlines largely operate on time or early, as does CX based in Hong Kong.
JQi's punctuality is poor, especially with its B788s. Are the latter being worked unrealistically hard?
TransTasman evening departures from Australia on QFi and NZ stand out for often being delayed. This can be a result of delays building during the day, and can mean arrivals at airports such as AKL and CHC after 0025 hours, so arriving at a city hotel after 0200 hours looms. If at all possible, best to avoid these 1830-1900 hour departures for KiwiLand.
Surprisingly "the world's best airline" QR has a few minor delays. Perhaps unsurprisingly, an airline now on my no-fly small list, MH, is worse. TR can also be rather variable despite being an SQ subsidiary.
The punctuality of the three main domestic carriers is variable, but often appalling, and not just when weather is adverse. 25 to 40 per cent of flights on many major routes arrive more than 15 minutes late, with many delays being above half an hour and quite a few more than an hour.