Flying Tiger turns around on time

QANTAS was Australia's most punctual large airline last year domestically but in a big turnaround Tiger Airways has been the nation's best performer since it was allowed to fly again in August.

It is good news for Qantas after a turbulent year in which it grounded its fleet for 48 hours to end industrial action, affecting 100,000 passengers and costing it up to $100 million.

Analysis of Commonwealth data shows the monthly average of Qantas flights departing on time was 83 per cent, ahead of main rival Virgin on 81 per cent.

Qantas also comfortably beat its budget arm Jetstar's 76.9 per cent and Tiger's average of 77 per cent.

The best-performing airline in the country last year was Regional Express on 84.9 per cent. Its roughly 5000 flights a month were about half the number of Qantas' or Virgin's.

The big surprise from the data is the performance of the much-maligned Tiger, which was grounded by the safety watchdog in July before being allowed to resume flying under strict conditions six weeks later. Since then nine out of 10 have departed on time - more than any other airline in that time. This compares with its abysmal 66.15 per cent monthly average before the shutdown.

One airline source puts the improvement down partly to Tiger's having roughly half as many flights as before it was grounded.

But, a Tiger spokeswoman said, the airline had flagged changes before the grounding to improve punctuality and customer satisfaction. "One of the silver linings [of the grounding] was that we're able to kick-start that process," she said.

The average percentage of all domestic flights departing on time, considered the most accurate way to judge punctuality because it is less affected by factors such as traffic control, was 80.8.

Tiger had the highest percentage of domestic cancellations last year with 2.9 per cent but the number dropped dramatically after it was allowed back in the air.