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Traveller
Mixed results for Qantas and Virgin airlines. Photo: Michele Mossop
This year’s annual World Airline Awards proved something of a mixed bag for Australian airlines.
In the final wash, after research firm Skytrax collated the surveys from more than 18 million passengers, Qantas notched up plenty of top-10 places, but took away only one gold medal for best airline in the Australia/Pacific region.
Virgin Australia picked up only one gong, being recognised for best staff service in the same region.
Jetstar’s victory as the best low-cost airline in Australia/Pacific was just as predictable, while that category saw the only mention of Tiger Airways Australia in a humbling fourth place out of four candidates (behind Asian-based AirAsia X and Scoot).
Are Australia’s airlines really so lacklustre, especially when held up against the measuring stick of the global market?
Here’s how the homegrown Big Four stack up on their own and against the “best of breed” that the World Airline Awards has to offer.
Qantas
Qantas has been through its share of ups and downs over the years, resulting in plenty of turbulence for the Aussie flag-carrier.
The lowest point was the airline’s unprecedented worldwide grounding in late 2011 as CEO Alan Joyce sought to short-circuit a crippling industrial dispute with unions over pay and job security.
The Red Roo has since rebounded with a sense that, in the words of Qantas Domestic CEO Lyell Strambi, the airline “is getting its mojo back”.
Life is certainly good for Qantas flyers at the top of the tree, with the airline’s first class lounge being voted in the World Airline Awards as second only to Lufthansa – whose cigar rooms, whisky bars and private soaking baths were always going to be hard to best.
However, Qantas also took out second place for the world’s best premium economy class, in the growing space between the economy and business class.
This underscores Qantas’ across-the-board appeal. All airlines have to make do with selling the cheap seats, but Qantas continues to package up a solid offering for the frequent flyer.
The airline’s smartchip-driven check-in service and network of lounges, including the mainstream Qantas Club, still put it ahead of most competitors around the globe.
Also in Qantas’ favour is its position in the oneworld alliance, which provides flow-on benefits when you’re flying with fellow members such as BA, Cathay Pacific and American Airlines.
Where the lauded “world’s best airlines” of Emirates, Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines edge ahead includes continued deep-pocket investment in a modern fleet and the latest seats.
Qantas partner Emirates goes over the top with first class suites while Singapore Airlines will next month reveal the next generation of its first class suites and business class seats. Both airlines are well-stocked with Airbus A380s and have also placed orders for the latest long-range jets from Boeing and Airbus.
And Qantas is well aware that seats are among its own shortcomings, with a sub-par business class between Australia’s east and west coasts, as well as many flights to Asia.
Virgin Australia
The Red Roo’s challenger has rarely been wrong-footed as it fights for a larger slice of the Australian travel pie.
Virgin Australia CEO John Borghetti, a 36-year veteran of Qantas who slid into the pilot’s seat in 2010 after being passed over for the top job in favour of Alan Joyce, has at times been criticised for turning the airline into a “me too” copy of Qantas.
That resemblance is growing as Virgin develops its own regional airline a la QantasLink and takes a controlling slice of Tiger to stake out Jetstar’s low-cost leisure travellers.
But Borghetti’s playbook – which has included domestic business class, chic airport lounges, a celebrity chef (Luke Mangan) and a compelling frequent flyer scheme – ticks all the boxes to take the fight to Qantas.
While Virgin Australia has a much smaller fleet than its competitor, there’s more consistency in knowing what type of seat you’ll get.
One of Virgin’s strengths is its Velocity Frequent Flyer program, which pushed Qantas off the map to to take the trifecta of Program of the Year, Best Elite Level and Best Redemption Ability at this year’s Freddie Awards for frequent flyer programs.
On the home front, Virgin has launched international-grade business class seats on Australia’s east-west transcontinental trek – a move that Qantas says it won’t be able to match until late 2014.
That’s an impressive roster for a domestic airline and one which few overseas carriers could match.
Virgin’s weakest link is its international flights, or lack of – which makes it hard to measure against any of the World Airline Awards winners.
In terms of true international destinations, Virgin itself flies only from Australia to Los Angeles and Abu Dhabi.
The rest of its extensive global network has been built on the back of partners such as Etihad Airways, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic.
Fortunately, and perhaps not by accident, many of Virgin’s codeshare chums rate well in the World Airline Awards.
Jetstar
Love them for their low fares or hate them for just about anything else, Jetstar punches well above its weight.
The Qantas offshoot snared second place on the World Airline Award’s low-cost leader board, nestling behind Malaysia’s cheap seats juggernaut AirAsia.
Jetstar’s laser focus on containing costs borrows from the playbooks of every airline from AirAsia to Ryanair, but with some of its own innovations in the mix.
For example, Jetstar will be one of the world’s first low-cost carriers to fly Boeing’s next-generation 787 Dreamliner starting in October this year.
The 787 will include both business and economy seating, with in-seat video screens and laptop and smartphone power sockets from tip to tail.
It will also drive down Jetstar’s ongoing costs, thanks to a 20 per cent greater fuel efficiency and longer periods between regular maintenance checks compared to conventional aircraft.
The Jetstar brand is also spreading its wings overseas, with Jetstar Hong Kong joining Jetstar Japan and the Singaporean-based Jetstar Asia to create the region’s largest low-cost carrier network.
Yet that could be a piece of cake compared to the hard task of educating travellers to realise that, in the end, you get what you pay for.
Tiger Airways Australia
The problem child of the Australian airline family, Tiger is looking to lift its game under the adopted parentage of Virgin Australia.
The airline’s fourth-out-of-four rating in the World Airline Awards for the region’s best low-cost airline was almost a footnote.
Tiger is synonymous with “cheap”, but in connotations beyond price, and the brand still carries a sour after-taste from the airline’s five-week grounding in 2011 by Australia’s air safety regulator over a variety of safety issues.
Virgin chief John Borghetti has pledged to rebuild Tiger’s reputation along with its fleet, while keeping the airline true to its low-cost roots – and undercutting Jetstar at every opportunity.
Australia’s cash-strapped travellers will be the judge of how well he succeeds.
What’s your report card for Qantas, Virgin Australia, Jetstar and Tiger?
World Airline Awards Australian airlines
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