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Air New Zealand has been prompted to release its on-time performance figures for July and August “in the interests of transparency” after competitor Jetstar noted the “puzzling” absence of any punctuality data from the airline over the past two months.
Jetstar head of New Zealand Grant Kerr says Air NZ stopped including OTP performance statistics for its domestic jet and turboprop services in its monthly operating statistics in July. It was also absent from the August report.
“Air New Zealand has previously called for the government to set the 10-minute OTP departure guideline for all carriers in the domestic market, so that travellers can make an accurate assessment of which airline was likely to get them to their destination on time,” Kerr said in a statement on Wednesday.
“We’re therefore rather puzzled why the national carrier appears to have stopped reporting its domestic on-time performance on a monthly basis to the NZX.
“In the interests of keeping the public informed we would encourage Air New Zealand to reinstate regular reporting of domestic OTP results in its monthly operating statistics provided to the NZX.”
Air NZ spokesperson Marie Hosking said Air NZ had moved to quarterly reporting of OTP, with the first update to be published on the airline’s website soon.
“In the meantime in the interests of transparency we’re happy to provide the July and August figures today,” Hosking said in an email on Wednesday.
The figures show Jetstar NZ as the most punctual carrier in the country for the past two months, with an OTP above 90 per cent.
Hosking said the quarterly report would include a month-by-month breakdown of all Air NZ’s operations – domestic, international and trans-Tasman.
Moreover, it would also offer comparisons with other airlines in the region, such as Qantas, Virgin Australia and Jetstar Australia.
“The move to quarterly reporting reflects the fact that it’s the overall trend that’s most relevant and helpful to customers,” Hosking said.
“It’s also helpful for customers to understand the results in a wider context.
“Our OTP is very high when compared with large airlines across Australia and the USA.”
New Zealand on-time performance July and August. A flight was on-time if it departed within 15-minutes of schedule.
————————————–JULY 14 AUGUST 14
- Air NZ domestic jet. 85.8% 89.8%
- Air NZ regional airlines. 87.6% 89.4%
- JQ NZ. 90.1% 93.0%
- JQ Australia. 83.8% 82.3%
- QF domestic jet. 84.4% 87.0%
- QF link Aust. 84.6% 86.1%
- Virgin Australia. 81.7% 80.4%
- VA regional. 83.0% 86.0%
Source: Air NZ
Glen
says:I do wonder if a airline cancels a flight that means that flight won’t affect OTP. Beacause I am sure I read it somewhere that airlines do that so they can claim better figures. I have a feeling that jetstar do the same thing to make there OTP figures look better.
Ty
says:I’ve noticed Jetstar structure their NZ domestic schedules somewhat to clearly manipulate OTP. Their scheduled flight times from CHC-WLG (50 min) and WLG-AKL (65 min) are 5 mins longer than the Air NZ scheduled flight times operating on the same route/aircraft type… Why does it take Jetstar an extra 5 minutes???
John
says:all airlines pad their timetables so they can take off late & land early.
Sounds like Jetstar currently have better OTP than good ol All bleck air.
Morgan
says:I think it’s pretty clear that in this case its only Jetstar who is ‘pading’ their timetables. Despite having a strict 30 min check in cut off they steal the extra 5 mins because it makes them appear more reliable, yeah right! Typical dodgy Australian practices, Deathstar trying to hide its inefficiencies