Qantas has claimed a drop in the number of flight delays, cancellations and lost baggage over the last month.
The Australian airline released a statement on Monday saying that 67 per cent of its flights left on time during August, up from just 52 per cent in July. With the figure improving to 71 per cent in the first two weeks of September.
However, the under-fire airline stated that the upcoming month will continue to present more strain on operations, informing customers to be more prepared for potential extended waiting times.
“Performance will be tested in coming weeks with school holidays, long weekends and football finals driving high levels of demand at peak times,” a spokesperson for Qantas said.
“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.”
Qantas has also reported a 2 per cent rate of flight cancellations for the first half of September, which is below pre-COVID levels.
Qantas Looking to Win back Customer Trust
Qantas would be keen to promote these figures after months of heavy scrutiny as a result of delayed/cancelled flights and lost baggage. Made more extensive by reports of difficult working conditions and general hostility towards the leadership of CEO Alan Joyce, who was recently given a $287 thousand pay rise on top of his $5 million salary despite the airline’s troubles.
The airline has said that they will be aiming to improve their figures with the rate of mishandled bagging, currently sitting at six per 1000 customers overall, down from nine last month. Targeting a rate of four per 1000 customers for the rest of September.
“With baggage services normalising, customers are encouraged to check in bags to stay within their carry-on baggage allowances and avoid boarding delays that can be caused by overhead baggage Tetris, despite our crew’s skill in this area,” the company said.
Have you experienced an improvement in Qantas’ service? Let us know in the comments…
