Some good news for Tiger this morning comes from the impartial statistics on punctuality, but a personal experience makes me wonder if they are up to speed.
First, the good news. The BITRE (Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics) annual report shows the Singapore Airlines controlled low cost entrant cancelled the lowest percentage of flights for the 12 months to 30 June.
A cancellation rate of only 0.4% is phenomenal. Tiger claims this was one quarter the rate recorded for Virgin Blue, and even that is phenomenal, as well as being a reminder that I seem to be a cancellation magnet the moment I set foot in a terminal.
Or a fog magnet when I use Canberra instead of Sydney.
Now the bad news. Tiger was uncompetitive when I set out to buy tickets for a small family group this week. I’d really like to experience Tiger, and with my luck, even approaching the baggage drop will coincide with a full on riot and or the head banging outrage of someone has just been asked for $200 in excess weight charges while travelling on a $29 ticket.
Every Tiger fare on the route started at $108, or $20 more than eventually paid for Virgin Blue seats, which also posted outrageously high fares at other even less convenient times than those chosen. As for Qantas, nothing was on offer for less than $135, and most seem to start with $2xx, at which point the buyer stops looking.
(Note to Qantas. I only want to occupy one of your tiny seats for 70 minutes, not purchase equity in the plane.)
Jetstar was out of contention. Not even $0 works for Avalon when the happy occasion is in East Brunswick and the cost of extra hours and a two day car rental comes up.
Once Jetstar starts doing flights to Melbourne which actually use Melbourne Airport they are back in the hunt.
Oh, and a note to Tiger too. Please don’t cancel your Canberra flights as rumoured. Virgin Blue is really shaking things up with the E-jets when it comes to comfort, and with a bit more sacrificial pricing from Tiger, Canberra can gain far more from competition than it has so far.
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Tiger have released their canberra schedule through to march next year
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/tiger-stays-in-canberra-for-now/1599868.aspx
Looks like J* are back in (your) hunt…
http://www.melbourneairport.com.au/Flight-Passenger-Info/Preparing-to-Fly/Domestic-Passengers.html
And enjoy the LCC dream while you can, as $200 barrels of oil are only around the corner according to the trends.
High oil poses some real issues, when rather than if it comes back. In the US it is seen by most analysts as wiping out the small regional jet market, and probably the more fuel efficient turbo props as well because of the small community subsidy structure.
I was recently at an Amadeus briefing where the view was put by its executives that expensive fuel would obliterate full service and low cost carriers alike, where the corporate account holders who have become hooked on lower fares are resisting luxury products for employees, and in the other case, where poor financials mean no time to effectively adjust capacity and exit lease/finance deals.
It was a very sobering briefing. High fuel will change what and how we drive, and certainly, how often and in what type of seat people fly. Those carriers that do survive will forgo frequency of service for economies of scale too, and have nothing in the fleet that doesn’t deliver contemporary standards of fuel and maintenance economy.
I believe that Copa (Panama) completion rate is 99.8% with punctuality of 91% – or at least it was when I was using their services a lot two years ago. This is especially phenomenal in light of their being a full-service network carrier hubbed in a region which features tropical storms and hurricanes.