Qantas has promised to improve its Canberra to Sydney service after official figures showed high levels of cancellations on the route.
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"We are particularly focused on bringing down cancellations on flights between Sydney and Canberra and the measures we have put in place over the past few months are helping," a spokesperson told The Canberra Times.
The airline's promise follows the publication of official figures showing 10 per cent of its flights on the route were cancelled in October.
But the airline said November has been much better.
"Cancellations on flights between Sydney and Canberra so far in November are down significantly, currently tracking at around 4 per cent," a spokesperson said.
Since October, the airline has changed some of the the aircraft it uses between the ACT and Sydney from the Dash 8 propeller aircraft to Boeing 737s. It said that would make the service more reliable. Canberra will also be the first Australian city serviced by new Airbus A220s.
Qantas blamed October's figures on the weather. Weather disruptions mean the airline cuts flights on high-frequency routes because passengers won't have long to wait for the next flight.
"When bad weather, air traffic control shortages or our own operational issues mean that we can't fly our schedule as planned, we cancel flights from high-frequency routes like Sydney to Canberra because the impact on customers is usually limited to an hour or so," the spokesperson said.
"This helps us protect lower-frequency routes to regional centres and places like Darwin or Hobart where the impact of a cancelled flight for passengers could be half a day or more. While we try hard to avoid any delay or cancellation, our next priority is to minimise the total impact on passengers as much as possible."
The airline is trying to rebuild its image after its previous chief executive Alan Joyce left early in the wake of allegations from the regulator it was selling tickets - and taking money - for flights it had already cancelled.
In Canberra, there has been relentless criticism from the airport's chief executive Stephen Byron about the high rates of cancellation on the Sydney route. Over the winter, it reached 12 per cent of Qantas flights, the highest rate of cancellation on any Qantas service in Australia.
Qantas' new chief executive Vanessa Hudson had promised to improve the airline's image nationally.
Mr Byron was unimpressed earlier in the week.
"There is little to no reality to the promised change in approach at Qantas," he said.
"Essentially, the same executive team at Qantas is delivering the same appalling service to customers. How is the board changing the brand reputation without fixing the problem?" Mr Byron wondered.
Steve Evans
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
