Wirraway
22nd Jan 2004, 01:40
Thurs "The Australian"
Airlines show on-time data
By Steve Creedy, Aviation writer
January 22, 2004
AUSTRALIAN travellers from March will be able to compare the on-time records of four major airlines and for the first time see exactly how they are performing on dozens of routes.
Monthly figures compiled by the Transport Department for the 35 most heavily travelled domestic routes will be available on the internet.
A spokesman for Transport Minister John Anderson said yesterday figures from Qantas, Virgin Blue, Regional Express and Skywest would also allow the public to look at performance as far back as November 2002. "It's no use us showing one month against a second month and building from there, we really need to go back a bit," the spokesman said.
Airline delays are a hot issue and The Australian was deluged with emails complaining of postponed and cancelled flights after columnist Matt Price last year wrote about his experiences with Qantas.
Both major airlines claim their on-time standards - measured as a percentage of flights leaving within 15 minutes of the scheduled departure time - are as good as, or better, than many overseas airlines. While Virgin Blue publishes monthly system-wide averages and Qantas has periodically released similar figures, neither airline has been prepared to provide a route-by-route breakdown.
Virgin Blue said yesterday 86.4per cent of its flights departed on time in December. down from 88.6per cent in November.
Qantas said last year about 85per cent of its flights left on time, although figures reportedly dropped below 70per cent at one stage and the airline admitted it needed to improve its on-time performance.
In the US, consumers also receive monthly information about lost or damaged baggage, the number of complaints against airlines and over-selling of seats.
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Airlines show on-time data
By Steve Creedy, Aviation writer
January 22, 2004
AUSTRALIAN travellers from March will be able to compare the on-time records of four major airlines and for the first time see exactly how they are performing on dozens of routes.
Monthly figures compiled by the Transport Department for the 35 most heavily travelled domestic routes will be available on the internet.
A spokesman for Transport Minister John Anderson said yesterday figures from Qantas, Virgin Blue, Regional Express and Skywest would also allow the public to look at performance as far back as November 2002. "It's no use us showing one month against a second month and building from there, we really need to go back a bit," the spokesman said.
Airline delays are a hot issue and The Australian was deluged with emails complaining of postponed and cancelled flights after columnist Matt Price last year wrote about his experiences with Qantas.
Both major airlines claim their on-time standards - measured as a percentage of flights leaving within 15 minutes of the scheduled departure time - are as good as, or better, than many overseas airlines. While Virgin Blue publishes monthly system-wide averages and Qantas has periodically released similar figures, neither airline has been prepared to provide a route-by-route breakdown.
Virgin Blue said yesterday 86.4per cent of its flights departed on time in December. down from 88.6per cent in November.
Qantas said last year about 85per cent of its flights left on time, although figures reportedly dropped below 70per cent at one stage and the airline admitted it needed to improve its on-time performance.
In the US, consumers also receive monthly information about lost or damaged baggage, the number of complaints against airlines and over-selling of seats.
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