Qantas denies hoarding flight slots at major airport
Proposed laws to crack down on airport slot hoarding has “some good things” and will help drive transparency for customers, Qantas officials say, while denying the airline is doing the wrong thing.
The airlines’ representatives are being quizzed on allegations it has been misusing slots at Sydney Airport, as parliament considers tough fines for anti-competitive behaviour.
Qantas Domestic chief executive Markus Svensson says 10 per cent more flights have departed on time over the past six months.
“We do not apply for slots without having intention to operate them … we categorically deny that we slot hoard and try any games,” he told a senate inquiry on Tuesday.
“We do use our slots. We intend to use them and we apply for them.”
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Asked if Qantas backed the changes, Svensson said there were “some good things in it”.
“Having more movements in case of disruption, that’s a good thing. Transparency is a good thing.”
Svensson said he didn’t have data on how many allocated Sydney slots were regularly affected by cancellation.
“I cannot stress the point we are absolutely with intention to operate every single flight, but we don’t,” he said.
“It’s not physically possible, because things are unpredictable in this industry.”
Opposition transport spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie said she was concerned Virgin Australia wasn’t appearing before the inquiry.
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“Qantas has been under a lot of criticism publicly for their use of the existing slot system, and it does you credit that you’ve actually taken advantage to front up … I wish Virgin had have done the same,” she said.
McKenzie said the claim against Qantas was that it had been “gaming the system”.
“It’s been part of your business plan to game that system, and you’ve been very successful at it, because you are the gorilla in the room … and you use that power to your advantage,” she said.
“That’s what we’re seeking to change here.”
The senate inquiry is examining legislation on flights at Sydney Airport, which result in penalties for airlines that deliberately cancel services to maintain valuable slots at terminals.
Slots at Sydney Airport are limited to 80 take-offs and landings per hour.
The Australian Airports Association, which is also appearing at the inquiry on Tuesday, said large cancellation numbers represented a concern.
The association said the lack of competition had led to higher airfares and restricted access for regional airlines.
Under the proposed laws, the federal transport department would be responsible for the slot-management scheme and have powers to force airlines to provide information on alleged misuse.
The laws will allow for the number of flights per hour at Sydney Airport to be increased if there is bad weather.
If flight landings or take-offs were affected by weather, the cap would be lifted to 85 flights per hour for two hours.
The number of flights in total would not increase and would still be subject to the airport curfew.
