Airline war: Virgin slams Alan Joyce for lying about turnback rates but Qantas says data is correct

Alan Joyce has unleashed an extraordinary war of words between Qantas and Virgin Australia after his rival airline accused him of spreading “serious misinformation”.

In two television appearances on Friday morning, the Qantas CEO gloated that his carrier’s operational performance is “better than it was before Covid” despite recent problems that saw eight flights have to return in January. .

Joyce told Sunrise and the Today Show that setbacks are “really rare” and insisted that Virgin experienced the same amount “or a little bit more” in the same month.

In a fierce response, Virgin criticized Joyce for spreading “serious misinformation”.

That prompted another response from Qantas, who told Daily Mail Australia that Virgin’s statement was “bizarre and disappointing”.

The dispute began after Joyce’s comments on Friday about setbacks suffered by Qantas in January.

“What I’m saying is that Qantas mainline … in the month of January had eight returns, six on 737s,” Joyce told Sunrise presenter Natalie Barr.

“Virgin actually had about the same number, I think it was a bit more, in the 737 fleet that is about the same size.”

This prompted a Virgin spokesperson to tell Daily Mail Australia that the airline had four air returns in January, half the number experienced by its competitor.

“Virgin Australia wishes to correct serious misinformation provided by the CEO of our main competitor during media interviews this morning,” Virgin Airlines said.

“In January we flew approximately 26 percent more Boeing 737 flights compared to our main competitor, and we experienced half the air returns that they did.

“We can confirm that Virgin Australia had four engineering-related air returns on its core fleet in January 2023, not the eight suggested to the media by our competitor, and one in February.”

“Three of those engineering-related air returns have been in the last three weeks, not six or more as our competitor suggested to the media.”

Virgin Airlines (pictured) accused Joyce of spreading “serious misinformation” and claimed it had only four engineering-related air returns, half the number of its competitor.

Virgin said its top January returns included a flight from Perth to Kalgoorlie on January 10, a flight from Perth to Brisbane on January 11, a flight from Darwin to Melbourne on January 20 and a flight from Brisbane to Darwin on January 28. from January.

The airline said it is proud of its operational performance and performed air returns in accordance with operating procedures without any risk to the flights.

“At Virgin Australia, the safety of our guests and crew is always our number one priority,” Virgin Airlines said.

Qantas Airlines responded to its rival by calling the comments “bizarre and disappointing”.

The national carrier told Daily Mail Australia that Virgin was “reducing” its figures based on semantics.

“It is strange that Virgin chooses to be defensive about pushbacks when our whole message today was that they are a normal and safe part of aviation,” Qantas said.

“And it is disappointing that his only contribution to the public discussion on this topic has been to reduce his rejection numbers through careful definitions.

“Whether a turn is due to engineering reasons, a bird strike, a sick passenger or the weather, ultimately they are all about safety and should not be minimized.”

Qantas responded by calling Virgin Australia’s comments “bizarre” and “disappointing” alleging that the airline was diminishing its figures through careful definition.

It comes after Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce mocked him for claiming the airline is “getting back to its best” despite several issues still plaguing his company.

The airline shared data collected from the global flight tracking service Flightradar24 showing Virgin’s eight air returns with its 737 fleet in January.

However, the data does not show the reasons for flight returns.

It comes after Joyce came under fire for claiming Qantas was “back to its best” in an opinion piece on Thursday.

Mr. Joyce praised his airline, stating that the “Spirit of Australia” had dramatically improved its services across the board.

“We have been the most punctual of the major national airlines for five months in a row,” he wrote.

The CEO explained that Qantas’ return rate over the past 12 months was consistent with its pre-Covid levels, with one aircraft returning for every 2,000 flights.

‘Our service levels (bags, cancellations, catering and the call center) have returned to what customers expect of us. And we are working to make it better.

A Qantas tweet about Joyce’s comments sparked a furious reaction from irate customers who endured a disastrous series of months with the airline ranging from lost luggage, unresponsive call centers and “flight credit” failures.