Qantas to begin trials for new boarding procedures

Alice Springs, Australia - March 3, 2013: View Of Passengers Walking To Board Qantas Airlines Airplane Plus Three Ground Crew Security Standing Still Including Airline Ground Equipment At Loading Gate Of Alice Springs Airport Australia.

As part ongoing improvements to service, Qantas will begin customer trials of new boarding procedures from next week.

The new procedures aim to reduce the time customers spend lining up at the gate to board their flight, as well as getting customers to their seats quicker once they’re onboard.

In the trials, customers will board in groups based on where they are seated on the plane, with group numbers included on boarding passes. Premium customers will continue to have a dedicated priority boarding lane.

Qantas will also trial new gate infrastructure, signage and announcements to support more efficient boarding.

Group boarding procedures are commonly used in Europe and the US, and Qantas has conducted a number of successful trials with staff in recent weeks.

Customers will be contacted in advance if their flight is involved in a trial and will be invited to participate in a survey following boarding, which will combine with input from frontline employees to fine tune the new process.

Trials will roll out on flights from Brisbane over the next two weeks followed by other major airports and a wider implementation in October 2023.

Alongside the new boarding trials, Qantas announced it notched up 10 months in a row of being the most on-time major domestic airline, despite the challenges of severe weather in June.

It’s the first time since records began in November 2003 that Qantas has recorded 10 consecutive monthly wins, and also means Qantas has been on top for 11 of the past 12 months based on federal government figures released today.

Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics (BITRE) data for June shows that Qantas and QantasLink took off on time 71.4 per cent of the time, compared with 67.6 per cent of the time for its major competitor. This translates into thousands of more on time flights for Qantas passengers.

The performance was below Qantas’ own target of above 80 per cent, chiefly due to bad weather at major airports on 19 out of 30 days. AirServices Australia staffing shortages also had a significant impact on on-time performance in June. Despite this, more than 94 per cent of Qantas and QantasLink flights in June took off within an hour of their scheduled departure time.

Qantas and QantasLink also cancelled fewer flights in June with 3.7 per cent cancelled compared to its major competitor’s 4.2 per cent.

“Qantas has been the most on-time major domestic airline for the past 10 months thanks to everyone across the airline who has been working hard to make sure our customers get where they need to go safely and on time,” Qantas chief operating officer Colin Hughes said.

“We know cancellations and delays are frustrating, and there will always be things that are out of our control like windy days and runway restrictions. But these results show we’re getting back to our best, and we’re looking to be even better.

“We’re introducing a number of initiatives, including new processes to make boarding smoother and quicker for everyone.”

Featured Image: View Of Passengers Walking To Board Qantas Airlines Airplane Plus Three Ground Crew Security Standing Still Including Airline Ground Equipment At Loading Gate Of Alice Springs Airport Australia. (iStock/LIVINUS)

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