www.virginblue.com.au
05/12/03
VIRGIN BLUE SETS GLOBAL ON TIME PERFORMANCE STANDARD
Virgin Blue has soared to new on-time performance* (OTP) heights with the latest figures revealing that 90% of the low fare carrier’s flights departed as scheduled.
The figure exceeds Virgin Blue’s previous OTP record of 89% and highlights the airline as a world leader in on-time performance.
Today’s announcement is in keeping with Virgin Blue’s promise made back in October to publish it OTP statistics for better or worse. While Qantas is yet to respond to Virgin Blue’s challenge to do the same, Virgin Blue will continue to provide full transparency to the travelling public for the first time in aviation history.
Virgin Blue, Chief Executive, Brett Godfrey, said, “November’s achievement of reaching 90% OTP sets the benchmark, not just here in Australia, but globally.
While we are still waiting for Qantas to publish its performance results, we know Virgin Blue surpasses the market leaders in both the US and Europe.”
Brett Godfrey continued, “It’s a tribute to the nearly 3000 dedicated staff who work so hard every day to get people away on time. Our team should be proud of what they have achieved but I know they won’t be resting on their laurels and we hope to do even better in the months to come.”
Virgin Blue recently conducted a survey of thousands of business travellers who fly more than 12 times a year which revealed that aside from safety, OTP far exceeded in-flight meals and frequent flyer points as their priority.
The efficiency and reliability of the airline’s modern fleet of high-tech 737 aircraft also plays a key role in the airline’s strong on-time performance.
Virgin Blue is working closely with the Department of Transport and Regional Services to develop an equitable set of long-term standards for measuring route-by-route OTP in Australia.
At Virgin Blue we measure our on-time performance as all flights that depart within 14 minutes and 59 seconds of their stated departure time. We make no exception for bad weather, air traffic control, delays from suppliers, unscheduled maintenance, consequence of previous delays or anything else for that matter - for us, on-time means on-time… no exceptions. All figures are based on pilot logbooks and are internally audited.
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