Australian airlines more delayed than foreign competitors, but government decides not to nudge laws

More than one in four flights operated by major Australian airlines in 2024 arrived at their destinations late, with local punctuality rates lagging significantly behind average carriers in comparable countries. Experts say a lack of competition in Australia’s airline market is a likely factor behind the prevalence of delays, and that the Albanese government missed a golden opportunity to nudge local carriers into performing better when it decided to omit a cash compensation scheme for delayed and cancelled flights from its landmark aviation reforms. Global data collated by aviation analytics firm Cirium, released on Thursday, found that Australia’s three major airlines – Qantas, budget subsidiary Jetstar and Virgin Australia – recorded on-time performance rates of 73.85%, 73.39% and 72.70% respectively. The on-time performance rates – which measure the share of an airline’s flights that land at their destination within 15 minutes of their scheduled arrival time – lay bare how frequently Australian passengers are hit with delays compared with foreign carriers. Among global airlines, Aeromexico – Mexico’s flag carrier – had the highest on-time performance in 2024 with 86.70%, followed by Saudia at 86.35%, Delta Air Lines at 83.46%, Latam at 82.89% and Qatar Airways at 82.83%.<br/>