Qantas reports improved September performance

Qantas flight delays, cancellations and mishandled bag rates all fell in the first two weeks of September.

This came as the Australian carrier reported that its operational performance continues to improve towards pre-Covid levels.

On time performance has improved from 52% of flights on time in July, to 67% in August and 71% from September 1-14.

Flight cancellations reduced to just 2% during the month so far, down from 7.5% in June and 4% in August. The current figure is below pre-Covid levels, according to latest Qantas figures.

Mishandled bags are at six per 1,000 passengers overall and at five per 1,000 for domestic – which is at pre-pandemic levels. 

The airline reported an increase in the average number of bags being checked in per passenger compared to pre-Covid, reflecting a strong rebound in leisure travel.

However, Qantas said: “Performance will be tested in coming weeks with school holidays, long weekends and football finals driving high levels of demand at peak times. 

“Customers are encouraged to arrive at the airport at least 90 minutes ahead of the scheduled departure time for domestic flights and three hours ahead for international flights.”

The airline said that the continued improvement has been driven by several factors, including:

• More than 1500 additional staff taken on across the Qantas group since April, including cabin crew, airport customer service staff, and engineers, with recruitment continuing.
• A reduction in domestic flights has increased availability of staff on standby, which lessens the impact of crew sick leave, the key driver of cancelled and delayed flights in July. This translates into fewer spare seats on each flight.
• Ground handling suppliers increased their workforce by 25 % since April.
• More than 120 new self-service kiosks have been introduce across the network, which are four times faster than the technology they replace. More than 80% of Qantas passengers now check-in online.