Two in every five Qantas flights in and out of Canberra to major airports were delayed in July, the federal aviation department reported.
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According to the latest official figures, there were 1,837 flights by the three Qantas brands - Qantas, QantasLink and Jetstar - between Canberra and the state capitals, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney in July.
Of those, 779 (42 per cent) were delayed.
The revelation comes as Qantas announced its third loss-making year in a row, losing $1.86 billion in the financial year just ended, $85 million worse than the previous year.
"The past year has been challenging for everyone," Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said.
The Transport Workers' Union said: "Qantas' reputation has plummeted along with its service standards following the illegal sacking and outsourcing of its entire ground, baggage and cleaning crews."
On the figures for punctuality at Canberra Airport, Virgin Australia's figures were similar to Qantas' - 892 landings and departures in Canberra, of which 380 (42 per cent) were late.
But Rex flights from Canberra to and from the four state capitals had a better punctuality record. Just over three-quarters (77 per cent) were on time.
On punctuality, Qantas said it would improve. "Everyone at Qantas is focused on bringing our operations back to their best. We've made a number of changes in recent weeks and have seen a significant improvement in August, with more two-thirds of flights departing on-time so far this month," a spokesperson said.
Rex said at least 70 per cent of its Canberra flights to Melbourne left on time. It had no cancellations on this route.
Its zero cancellations in July compared with 38 cancellations by QantasLink, for example, 15 per cent of its flights on the route.
"There is no doubt Rex is Australia's most reliable airline as the performance of our Canberra flights demonstrate," the airline's deputy chairman, John Sharp, said.
"Not only do we have by far the best on time departure and arrival record in and out of Canberra but, tellingly, Rex didn't cancel a single flight last month."
Rex pulled out of the Canberra-Sydney route in June. "Qantas's well-publicised predatory actions on Rex's regional routes have meant Rex no longer has the ability to cross-subsidise these marginal routes," Mr Sharp said at the time.
Qantas said it was making changes in its operations across Australia to improve punctuality. It was lengthening the connection time between flights so passengers who were late coming in were less likely to miss the connecting flight.
More ground staff had been taken on in what it called "a very tight labour market".
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But the airline has been embroiled in an ongoing dispute with the Transport Workers Union over contracting out jobs.
The Transport Workers Union sued Qantas in the Federal Court after the airline announced in November two years ago that ground handling operations at ten airports would be outsourced and moved to third-party companies.
The punctuality figures came as Rex announced a $46 million loss for the past year. "The lingering impact of COVID-19 meant that passenger services did not start to recover until February," the airlines chairman Lim Kim Hai said.
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