After languishing near the bottom of global rankings in 2023, Qantas now lands 87.16% of its flights within 15 minutes of schedule, according to aviation data group OAG. That is a jump from 80.4% a year earlier and it narrowly tops Spain-based Avianca’s 87% on-time score. Virgin Australia trails at 80.18% punctuality, highlighting how far Qantas has moved. The airline has pushed into artificial intelligence, made heavier use of operational data and launched a $15 billion fleet renewal programme to improve aircraft turnaround times.
The turnaround is striking given the airline’s recent history. At the worst point in July 2022, 46% of Qantas flights arrived late as the industry struggled with staff shortages and surging demand after COVID-19.
That performance collapse fed passenger frustration at high fares and poor reliability, turning the airline into a lightning rod for broader anger about aviation service standards. In 2023, Qantas fell to 106th globally for on-time performance.
OAG’s June data shows Qantas only just edges out Avianca at the top, with IndiGo, SAS Scandinavian Airlines and Turkiye-based Pegasus rounding out the top five for punctuality. The top 10 list also includes several carriers familiar to Australian travellers, such as LATAM in seventh place, Delta in eighth and China Southern in ninth.
OAG defines an on-time flight as one that lands within 15 minutes of its scheduled arrival, a standard used widely across the industry. That benchmark means small delays still count as punctual, but bigger operational issues quickly drag down an airline’s score.
