Qantas passengers vent their frustration amid a spike in flight cancellations - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Qantas passengers vent their frustration amid a spike in flight cancellations
BY NATIONAL RURAL REPORTER BRETT WORTHINGTON
UPDATED ABOUT 7 HOURS AGO
QantasLink, the regional arm of Qantas, has cut the number of flights it operates in a bid to combat cancellations and increasing customer frustration.
Passengers who have been left stranded in airports, have vented their frustration on social media after last-minute flight cancellations.
QantasLink has experienced an almost doubling in flight cancellations in recent months.
The latest figures from the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development show QantasLink cancelled 500 flights last month, which was almost half of all domestic airline cancellations.
Qantas said the bulk of cancellations had been on Canberra, Hobart and regional Queensland flights.
But frustration with the airline has not been restricted to these areas.
QantasLink cancellations in Tamworth, in regional New South Wales, have also been cause for concerns for locals.
Tamworth Regional Council councillor Juanita Wilson said while she appreciated the services QantasLink offered her region, locals could no longer rely on them.
"We're at a mindset now where you book a flight and hope it'll happen," she said.
"Another impact is that individuals and businesses are booking flights earlier than they need with the anticipation that one might be cancelled."
Pilot shortage and aircraft maintenance to blame
Qantas attributes the cancellations to crew shortages.
It said illness and training were responsible for a lack of available pilots among its reserve crews.
The company also attributed the cancellations to unexpected maintenance of planes, which required parts to be sourced from overseas.
Cr Wilson while every industry and every business had its issues it was up to industry to manage the situation.
"If the availability of pilots in Australia is an issue, and it seems to be, then perhaps government [at] all levels needs to look at how that can be resourced and solved," she said
Cr Wilson said the cancellations meant people had missed weddings, international flights and medical appointments.
Reduced flights to improve reliability
QantasLink chief operating officer Jenny Chamberlain, in a statement, said the airline had reduced flight numbers to combat the cancellations, changes that would remain in place until March.
"The higher rates of cancellations and delays is disappointing and falls well below the standards we set for ourselves and our customers," she said.
"We've said we are taking active steps to improve overall reliability by making some adjustments to our QantasLink network and schedule over the next few months.
"The changes will see us reduce the overall number of flights but instead use larger aircraft to maintain capacity."
However, Cr Wilson said she feared there could be unintended consequences from fewer flights.
"Bigger flights don't always meet the business needs," she said.
"We need to be able to do business in Sydney and get back, or do business in Melbourne and have flights that will [allow] us to get back in a day," she said.
Tasmanian businessman Stuart Liddell travels interstate, particularly to regional Victoria, for work most weeks.
Qantas has cancelled his Hobart flights twice in recent weeks. The Qantas Club member said he was annoyed at the lack of communication from the airline.
"I said 'why has the flight been cancelled?' and all they did was shrug their shoulders," Mr Liddell said.
"I started to get really annoyed because I had commitments in Hobart. That was blown. I had to call up and cancel all those business commitments.
"And nobody [at Qantas] gave a toss about it."
Flight cancellations amid industrial action
Passengers have also vented their frustration at Cobham Aviation Services, the contractor that provides pilots for QantasLink's Boeing 717 planes.
A new 10-year $1.2 billion deal was struck between Cobham and Qantas last year.
Cobham has for months been negotiating a new enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA) with its pilots.
The Australian Federation of Air Pilots filed for protected industrial action in August.
That action is ongoing but Qantas says the dispute is not the primary cause of cancellations and delays in its regional network.
Cobham's public relations firm refused to comment on the effect the industrial action was having on flights, and instead referred questions to Qantas.
Cobham, in a statement, said EBA negotiations were ongoing with the union.
The Australian Federation of Air Pilots also declined to comment, saying staff were unavailable.
The irony of cancellations in Tamworth isn't lost on Cr Wilson.
Her federal MP, until he was kicked out by the High Court, was former deputy prime minster Barnaby Joyce, the federal government's chief advocate of decentralising agencies to regional areas.
"Businesses who are competing with metropolitan business have costs inflated because they've had to reschedule flights or stay overnight in Sydney," she said.
"That puts them at a disadvantage."