Decline in satisfaction amongst Qantas business customers since grounding of fleet in late October 2011

• Satisfaction amongst Qantas business customers is high at 82%, but suffering a decline in recent months from a high point of 84% in October 2011;

• Virgin Australia is at 78%, up from 76% in October 2011 and fast closing the gap on Qantas;

• Jetstar business customer satisfaction fell in the latest report.


Satisfaction with Domestic Airlines used in last 12 months


Source: Roy Morgan Single Source, July 2009 – December 2011, Total used domestic airline in last 12 months for business - average annual sample n=1,526. “% satisfied” is the proportion of all customers who are “Very” or “Fairly” satisfied with that Airline (on a five point scale).


Jane Ianniello, Roy Morgan Research International Director of Tourism, Travel & Leisure, says:

“Qantas domestic business customer satisfaction has fallen in November and December 2011 after grounding all its planes for days in late October and causing major disruptions for 100,000 Australian air travellers.

“By contrast the satisfaction rating for Virgin Australia with its quick response in putting on more flights during the Qantas industrial dispute has increased strongly in the past two months. With the recent launch of its new business class Virgin Australia looks set to close the gap further on Qantas.

"The introduction of a successful business class into Virgin Australia may attract advertisers in their magazine Velocity, and on their airport terminal signage and planes.

“The challenge will be for both airlines to understand, and therefore satisfy, their customers better.”

Detailed Airline Business and Leisure Customer Profiles of Qantas, Virgin Australia and other airlines are available.

These profiles provide a broad understanding of the target audience, in terms of demographics, attitudes, activities and media usage in Australia.

The detailed Roy Morgan Airline Satisfaction report provides information on both domestic and international airline satisfaction.  The brands covered in this report are: Air Canada, Air New Zealand, AirAsia X, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Etihad, Garuda Indonesia, Jetstar, Malaysia Airlines, Pacific Blue, Qantas, Qantaslink, REX, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Tiger Airways, United, V Australia and Virgin Australia.