By Andrew Heasley and Aviation Reporter
Australians rated British Airways the worst airline to fly to London with, while Qantas also fared badly in the survey.Credit: AP
Qantas and its no-frills subsidiary Jetstar rate among the worst airlines to fly internationally, according the latest Choice consumer survey, while Singapore Airlines soared into top spot.
The survey asked 9000 Choice members to rate international airlines' performance in 10 categories, including cost, in-flight service, in-flight entertainment, seat comfort, leg room, food quality, frequent flyer point redemption, timeliness, baggage allowance and check-in process, on direct flights from Australia to 12 destinations, including Europe, US, Asia and New Zealand.
Travellers were asked to a score airlines out of 100.
Newer airlines that rated well for value for money included AirAsia X to Malaysia and V Australia to the US, the survey found.
On the Kangaroo Route from Australia to the UK, regarded as one of the "glamour" routes in aviation, Qantas' alliance partner British Airways was rated the worst airline.
British Airways scored just 57 overall, and 60 for in-flight services, with one member describing a senior cabin crew member as "rude and confrontational".
Qantas scored just marginally better at 63 overall, 61 for cost, and a middling 67 for in-flight service.
Qantas and British Airways codeshare a number of flights on the Kangaroo Route as OneWorld alliance partners.
By contrast, Singapore Airlines topped the results with an overall satisfaction rating of 81 out of 100, with in-flight service rating a high 86.
To the US, new trans-pacific Virgin Group airline V Australia was narrowly edged out for top spot by Singapore Airlines (80 versus 81 overall), but V Australia scored significantly higher on value for money at 88, against Singapore Airlines' 72.
Again, Qantas ranked mid-field at 65, though travellers commented on the quality of flying on the relatively new double-decker Airbus A380, compared with the older 747 jumbos of other carriers.
To Asia, Singapore Airlines ranked the highest in all eight popular destinations of Bali, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Hong Kong and Japan.
But ambitious low-cost airline AirAsia X ranked highly for value to Bali, Malaysia and Thailand.
Jetstar and/or Qantas rated at or near the bottom for flights to Bali, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Hong Kong and Japan.
Across the Tasman, Emirates topped the score card at 82, while Qantas and Jetstar languished at the bottom, scoring 65 and 58 respectively on flights to New Zealand.
A sample of comments from Choice members revealed Jetstar was panned for "ridiculously low" baggage allowances and ignoring a complaint.
Qantas passengers delivered a mixed report card; one respondent (a 20-year frequent flyer veteran and Qantas Club life member) vowed never to fly the airline again, slamming "poor attitude" from staff, customer relations, inconvenient routes, price, delays and being "insensitive" to customers' needs.
On the other hand, another respondent praised Qantas' A380 service as "impeccable", while another appreciated an upgrade from economy to first class from their "gold" class frequent flyer membership status.
Some airlines "just don't get it", one traveller noted, and should travel on Singapore Airlines "to see how it is done".
To be included in the results, a route needed to be covered by at least three airlines and at least 30 respondents were required per airline per route to generate an adequate sample size, Choice says.
Jetstar hit back at the survey results and questioned its methodology, saying it didn't reflect their own surveys and that the airlines rapid growth and expanding services demonstrated that it was delivering on customers' expectations.
"We're not putting too much credence in it," said Jetstar spokesman Simon Westaway. "Choice...are one voice in consumerland.
"We take the views of our customers in the internal research we do.
"Jetstar has a very good feel for our customers and how they think, and we believe we're delivering to them what they want.
"We wouldn't be the fastest growing international airline, operating in and out of Australia, with the record passenger volumes that we're delivering, if we weren't providing bang for their buck.
"The host of service awards we've won over the years show that we're a rated airline," Mr Westaway said.
A Qantas spokeswoman said their own customer research showed satisfaction levels were increasing and at an all time high.
"We speak to our customers about their whole experience from online bookings, check-ins, security, lounges, the whole experience - in focus groups, one-on one interviews, we survey 3000 customers every month - we take all of their feedback on board.
"We have a robust approach to our research and it’s something we’ve been doing for a long time now."
In other aviation news:
- The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission granted a five-year extension of regulatory approval for Qantas and British Airways to share services to Europe.
- Qantas says it does not expect any impact on services across the Easter break as a result of industrial bans imposed by professional engineers belonging to the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers, Australia (APESMA), whose members have imposed out-of-hours bans on the airline since November.
- The Qantas airliner that experienced engine trouble out of Sydney bound for Singapore on Tuesday evening is still undergoing technical examination to find out what went wrong.
-Embattled airline Viva Macau, which had its licence to fly revoked by authorities stranding more than 4700 people on the weekend, has refunded 1642 customers. Affected Australian customers should call 1300 363 044. Reports on aviation industry forums say the company from which Viva Macau leases aircraft has applied to Macau's aviation regulators to have the planes deregistered.
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