Singapore Airlines satisfies Aussie travellers, Qantas not so much...
By David Flynn, October 16 2012
Which international airline leaves Australian travellers feeling the most satisfied with their experience?
According to research firm Roy Morgan, it's Singapore Airlines, which polled a solid 90.8% satisfaction rating over the 12 months from August 2011 to August 2012.
The Singaporean flag-carrier traded places with Air New Zealand during that period, and there's still a very narrow margin between them.
They're followed by Indonesian national airline Garuda.
The big winners are Emirates and Thai, both of which recorded an average increase of five points from their standing in August 2011.
Of the six international airlines sitting above the 'total industry' happy factor of 77%, Qantas was the only one to record a significant drop.
In Roy Morgan's Airline Satisfaction Report for August 2011 the Red Roo was sitting at 82.3%, but a year down the track has slid back to 80.5% – no doubt impacted by the wave of delays and cancellations caused by industrial action in the later part of 2011, which culminated in the dramatic Qantas shutdown of October 29.
However, Qantas can take some solace in the fact that other international airlines – including British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Jetstar, MAS, United Airlines and Virgin Australia – failed to make it above the industry average baseline.
(AusBT is told that Jetstar, Tiger, Delta Airlines and United all polled below 60% mark).
meanwhile, Roy Morgan's survey of domestic travellers found that Virgin Australia now leads Qantas – click here for details.
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David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
10 Mar 2011
Total posts 526
Not surprised that BA didnt' make it... but interesting that Cathay Pacific failed to make the industry average... That seems a bit odd...
04 Nov 2010
Total posts 670
I had exactly that thought too, AusFlyer, very odd that CX was not on that chart!
16 Oct 2012
Total posts 52
Just came of an SQ flight from LHW via SIN on Saturday. Flew F and as you'd expect the service was impecable. More than satisfied with them!
26 May 2011
Total posts 62
So therefore shouldn't your headline read 'Singapore Airlines satisfies Aussie travellers, VIRGIN not so much.........'? Seeing as by your own admission Virgin doesn't even rate above the baseline? You have a defn biased in your reportings. And before I hear the howlings, no, I have no affiliation with QF. I just can't stand Virgin, either Atlantic or Australia.
24 Oct 2010
Total posts 2560
Hi Daniell: we chose Qantas because (a) it's the bigger airline by far, and one which far more travellers would be familiar with and have experienced; and (b), it's the only one which showed a noticeable decline in satisfaction over the survey period, so of the six airlines measured from start to finish, you have one airline which has trended up to take the lead (SQ) and one that's trended down to be markedly 'less satisfying' than before (QF). We don't actually know what the results were for any the airlines under Roy Morgan's 'average' – for all we know, Virgin Australia might have experienced a dramatic boost from (say) 50% to 70% - this article is about the six airlines above the industry average for which RM has shared results.
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