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JETSTAR cancelled more domestic flights than Qantas last month, despite the flying kangaroo being hit by ongoing strikes.
But Qantas had the highest number of late-running planes, with just over 80 per cent of domestic flights departing on time.
A report from the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics shows Jetstar cancelled 2.1 per cent of flights in September, while Qantas cancelled 1.8 per cent.
The first major Qantas disruptions began on September 20, when more than 4000 Qantas baggage handlers and ground staff stopped work for four hours as part of an ongoing row over pay and conditions.
While Jetstar is a subsidiary of Qantas it has been largely unaffected by the Qantas strikes.
A Jetstar spokeswoman said the cancellation rate in September was due to a combination of reasons, including weather and technical issues.
She said for the year ending June 2011, Jetstar had an average monthly cancellation rate of 1.4 per cent, which was less than all other major airlines.
Virgin Australia had the most on time departures amongst the other major domestic carriers, with nearly 86 per cent of departures on time.
It cancelled 1.7 per cent of domestic flights.
Tiger Airways, which returned to the skies on a reduced schedule in August after a six-week absence, is showing signs it is lifting its game.
More than 91 per cent of its flights arrived on time in September and there were no cancellations.
But it only flew 530 sectors in September, compared to 1577 the same month the previous year.
The airline was previously grounded because of Civil Aviation Safety Authority concerns after pilots flew too low into Melbourne airports on two occasions, as well as wider safety issues it had previously told the airline to address.
Jetstar blamed single runway operations in Sydney and bad weather for its delays.
The report also showed the route between Newcastle and Melbourne was the worst in Australia when it came to flight cancellations.
Nearly 6 per cent of flights from Melbourne to Newcastle were cancelled in September and more than 5 per cent on the reverse route.
Melbourne to Sydney was the second worst, with 4.7 per cent of flights cancelled.
Overall, on time performance averaged 83.2 per cent for on time departures and 82.7 per cent for arrivals - slightly more than the same time last year.
Regional Express had the best on time performance of the participating regional airlines, with 87.5 per cent of departures on time.
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Guess which Australian airline cancelled most flights last month | News.com.au