Airline On Time Performance, 2009 Calendar Year Report
For the year ended December 2009, on time performance over all routes operated by participating airlines (Jetstar, Qantas, QantasLink, Regional Express, Skywest Airlines, Tiger Airways and Virgin Blue) averaged 85.0 per cent for on time departures, and 84.0 per cent for on time arrivals. Cancellations for 2009 represented 1.2 per cent of all scheduled flights. The equivalent figures for the year ended December 2008 were 79.1 per cent for departures, 77.1 per cent for arrivals and 2.1 per cent for cancellations.
The long term average performance for all routes since reporting commenced in November 2003 is 84.9 per cent for on time departures and 83.7 per cent for on time arrivals. Cancellations averaged 1.2 per cent of all scheduled flights.
As shown in Figure 1, there was a noticeable decrease in airline on time performance from June 2007 to December 2008. Whereas on time arrivals and on time departures tracked around 87 per cent before June 2007, they were below 80 per cent for June 2007 to December 2008. For 2009, they have risen back up to more than 84 per cent. Similarly, the percentage of cancelled flights rose from 0.9 per cent before June 2007 to 1.8 percent for June 2007 to December 2008 before dropping back down to 1.2 per cent for 2009 (Figure 2 refers).
Of the major domestic airlines, Qantas achieved the highest level of on time departures for 2009 at 87.2 per cent, followed by Virgin Blue at 85.6 per cent, Jetstar at 78.3 per cent and Tiger Airways at 76.5 per cent. The regional airlines were led by QantasLink at 87.3 per cent, Regional Express at 84.2 per cent and Skywest at 82.6 per cent.
Qantas also achieved the highest on time arrivals among the major domestic airlines at 87.3 per cent, followed by Virgin Blue at 85.4 per cent, Jetstar at 80.4 per cent and Tiger Airways at 77.0 per cent. QantasLink was the best performing regional airline for on time arrivals at 84.4 per cent, followed by Skywest at 82.0 per cent, and Regional Express at 79.4 per cent.
Virgin Blue had the highest percentage of cancellations for 2009 at 1.6 per cent, while Regional Express had the lowest at 0.2 per cent.
Of the 48 routes which met the criteria for on time performance reporting for all twelve months in 2009, the Perth-Newman route had the highest percentage of on time departures (93.4 per cent) and on time arrivals (92.6 per cent). The Ballina-Sydney route had the lowest percentage of on time departures (72.8 per cent) and on time arrivals (67.7 per cent).
Cancellations were highest on the Sydney-Melbourne route at 3.8 per cent, followed by Melbourne-Sydney also at 3.8 per cent, Kalgoorlie-Perth 3.3 per cent, Canberra-Sydney also at 3.3 per cent and Perth-Kalgoorlie at 3.1 per cent.
Of the airports with on time performance reporting for all twelve months in 2009, Townsville Airport recorded the highest percentage of on time departures (90.2 per cent), while Ballina recorded the lowest (72.8 per cent). Newman Airport recorded the highest percentage of on time arrivals (92.6 per cent), while Wagga Wagga Airport recorded the lowest (74.9 per cent).
Table 1. Total Industry On Time Performance for the year ended 31 December 2009
Figure 1. Total Industry Arrivals and Departures On Time by month from December 2004
Figure 2. Total Industry Cancellations by month from December 2004
