Jetstar records less cancellations than Qantas and Virgin Australia

Australian budget airline Jetstar has surprisingly beat both Qantas and Virgin Australia when it came to having the lowest percentage of domestic flight cancellations last month.

The latest figures from the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics, released on Monday, show Jetstar recorded 3.3 per cent cancellations in July, while Qantas recorded 3.6 per cent and Virgin Australia recorded 5.3 per cent.

Only two reports before this, in May, Jetstar had recorded the highest percentage of cancellations at 4.2 per cent.

In June, the Qantas-owned budget airline recorded 3.7 per cent cancellations, beating Virgin Australia at 4.1 per cent but falling just behind Qantas at 3.6 per cent – before beating both major airlines in July.

The month of July saw Jetstar’s lowest cancellations and most on-time flights since the pandemic.

Jetstar Group CEO Stephanie Tully told news.com.au it’s attributed to investments that had been made in hiring more cabin crew, pilots and engineers, new aircraft and customer support.

“These figures show that Jetstar is back on track,” Ms Tully said.

“After a lot of great work by our teams, our punctuality and reliability have returned to pre-Covid levels.

“These improvements are on the back of ongoing investments across the airline in more cabin crew, pilots and engineers, new Airbus A321neo aircraft, and enhanced customer support.”

Ms Tully said they want to be even better and “there’s more work to do”.

“Everyone at Jetstar is focused on delivering a world-class low fares experience for our customers every time they fly,” she added.

It comes after Ms Tully issued an apology earlier this month to “everyone” the airline has “let down”.

She pleaded with Aussies to give the budget airline “a go”, promising better on-time performance and fewer cancellations — with the July figures showing the airline has bounced back.

“For July it looks like we have the best cancellations of any airline in Australia so we have really been working hard to make sure Jetstar is at its best,” she told Melbourne’s 3AW co-hosts Ross and Russel.

Speaking generally about the airline’s challenges and “what went wrong”, Ms Tully explained issues surrounding the pandemic.

“The industry was in hibernation for a few years so getting started, getting all of our people back, we had a number of supply chain issues with parts,” she said.

“So we have had to work extra hard and do extra things to make sure Jetstar is performing the way people expect.”

In late May, Jetstar introduced new bag drop and check-in times to help planes takeoff on time after admitting the low-budget airline wasn’t up to scratch.

As for delays, Jetstar also out performed rival Virgin Australia in July.

Qantas achieved the highest on time arrivals among the major domestic airlines at 68.8 per cent, followed by Jetstar at 68.1 per cent and Virgin Australia at 59.2 per cent.

Qantas took the lead on the highest level of on time departures as well at 68.9 per cent, followed by Jetstar at 66.3 per cent and Virgin Australia at 58.9 per cent.

Virgin Australia told news.com.au its performance in July did not meet the airline’s standards but there was already positive signs of improvement in August.

“Delivering a safe, reliable and stable operation is a top priority at Virgin Australia and we continue to work hard to improve our performance,” a spokesperson said.

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“Our operation in July was impacted by a number of factors including air traffic controller shortages, weather, and crew resourcing. We recognise our performance did not meet our standards and we apologise to our guests who experienced disruption.

“August-to-date data indicates our focus on improvement is already delivering positive results. This remains a priority for our entire team.”

The last time Virgin Australia recorded the lowest percentage of cancellations compared to Qantas and Jetstar was in April, when it recorded just 2.9 per cent. Jetstar recorded 8.1 per cent during that month and Qantas 3.6 per cent.

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