Airline fails

Not a minute wasted

You're flying commercial, you arrive to the terminal, through security, to the lounge to then find out that due to earlier delays - your flight is now delayed. In stark contract, take a look at the events our card holder experienced recently flying out of Sydney.

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The airlines let George down, so he did something about it

Time after time, George was being let down.

If you’re a busy individual like George, running multiple businesses, travelling frequently with a young family at home, his story would be familiar.

George frequently travels between Melbourne and Sydney for his businesses, avoiding overnights so he could spend more time at home with his family.

This entailed a carefully planned day trip – and required his commercial flights to run on time (or close enough to).

But year after year, declining on time performance and growing cancellation rates let him down. His Platinum status providing little value with the airline duopoly.

Then came the final straw, having his day in Sydney planned to the minute, all meetings ticked off and en route to the airport, his flight was cancelled and subsequently rebooked the following day.

This was George’s ‘ah ha’ moment.

He knew of private aviation already, chartering once or twice a year as well as booking empty legs.

But while in his hotel room in Sydney he came across Access by Airly.

A product where he could trust us to get him where he needed to be, when he needed to be there.

Not just that, providing this service for a fixed price enabling him to budget annual travel expenses.

This sole decision put George back in control of his day, gifting him more time and the certainty that he would be home in time for dinner with his young family.

How likely will your Melbourne – Sydney flight arrive on time?

We’ve been patiently waiting for the airline’s on time performance results from June.

Recently, there’s been substantial coverage on airline cancellations, delays and security queues going as far as the eye can see.

Our patience has been rewarded.

Less than half a chance of arriving on time from Sydney to Melbourne

Saying less than half is probably too nice.

If you flew commercial from Sydney to Melbourne you had a 42.5% chance of arriving on time.

A total of 15.3% of flights were cancelled too.

By all reports, July is looking no better as the airlines continue to fight their low cost staffing solutions, flu/covid and a lack of ‘match fit’ travellers (their words, not ours).

Remember George? In June he arrived to his destination right on time, every time.

This article is a bit of a throwback.

Remember George? He was the first card holder we introduced you to several months ago.

A multi business owner and super busy father of two, George was continually left stranded by the airlines.

This resulted in him being stuck at airports instead of being home to enjoy dinner with his young family.

He found our Access by Airly program back in June last year. We’re sure he’s watching the chaos ensuing in the domestic terminals not missing it one bit.

A level of convenience the airlines cannot provide

We’re the first to admit, we do go hard on the airlines.

They do a great job, and we’re so lucky in Australia to have one of the safest regulatory conditions in the world which results in far fewer incidents compared elsewhere.

But our job is to show those who need to fly from A to B, whether that be Melbourne to Sydney, or Moree to Swan Hill, that there is a better way.

You see, the airlines have a task to run their jets to a schedule, where you’re no more important than the other 150+ passengers flying with you.

And they can’t fly everywhere, all the time.

This is why private aviation is such a fast-growing market in Australia. Granted, it has taken a pandemic and associated severe travel disruption to show individuals who are in a financial position that there are economical ways to experience the benefits of chartering a private jet.

Thankfully, though, we’re often provided with free marketing by the actions of airlines.

Stranded passengers, lost luggage, long queues in security, non-responsive customer service, and business travellers sitting on the floor in overcrowded lounges are voiced frequently via social media.

How the airlines ruined Will’s day

For our Access cardholder, Will, a third-generation farmer, trying to get from A to B was a horrid experience.

Two commercial flights from major airports plus a further 3 hours to his final destination by road, was a task that Will never looked forward to.

It only took one of the flights to be delayed or cancelled, and his whole day was ruined, with limited options to reschedule on the day.

A travel solution that’s all about you

Now, having the ability to book a jet to suit his schedule, along a more direct route has completely changed the way that Will does business.  Will can depart from his urban airport, saving time by travelling directly to where he needs to be.

A quick trip to inspect a new facility or investment can be achieved with a level of convenience never experienced before.

The added bonus that his dedicated travel specialist knows what paper he likes to read and the food he likes to eat onboard makes Will’s entire travel experience a joy, and something he actually looks forward to.  

For Will, the journey is now as important as the destination.

Airline On Time Performance

How often do the airlines arrive on time?

Each month the Department of Infrastructure (their actual title is much much longer) releases data on the aviation industry.

And one report we enjoy reading is the Domestic airline on time performance report.

The Department measure the departure, arrival and cancellation performance of the major airlines along all domestic routes. This gives us key insight as to why we keep receiving phone calls from potential card holders like George.

Pre covid, when Sydney – Melbourne was one of the busiest air routes in the world we witnessed under half of all flights actually arrive on time (scheduled arrival time + or – 15 minutes).

But we felt that’s unfair looking that far back, so we decided to take a look at the January 2022 performance between Melbourne and Sydney, the results didn’t disappoint.

So how did the airlines perform in January 2022?

Airline On Time Performance

Even in January 2022, when the airlines desperately wanted your custom, they could barely get you into Sydney on time, cancelling a quarter of flights.

It’s horrid performances like this that destroyed our card holder, George‘s, schedule.

He wanted to fly to Sydney from Melbourne in the morning and hit the ground running meeting as many partners, investors and clients as possible without the need to spend the night away.

And when he was one of the 25% on average having their flight cancelled, his precise schedule was thrown into chaos.

That’s why he signed up to Access by Airly.

Our promise is we’ll get you where you need to be, when you need to be there.

The only thing that can stop us is the weather, and even then we’ll have Plan B ready to implement.

Time is money, can you afford to be left behind by the airlines?

If you travel frequently, even a couple of times a year, George’s story will be very familiar.

A busy self-made entrepreneur with a young family, George needs to travel for his business and put faith in the airlines as flying by private jet felt a little out of reach.

Like all of us, George was up at 4AM to catch the first flight to Sydney.

Trading the good morning cuddles from his kids for the lonely drive to the airport.

Knowing he would miss school drop offs for queuing with random travellers piling into the same plane.

His plan of attack once on the ground in Sydney was precise and had little margin for error.

Only while enroute to be sent an SMS by his airline that the flight to Sydney was cancelled.

That’s it, no “here’s what we’ll do to fix things”, just a recommendation to call the offshore call centre.  

George’s day is now destroyed, meetings need to be pushed where possible and and then there’s the hassle and stress rebooking onto a later flight.

This is how the airlines treat their customers.  

The very lifeblood that keeps them in the air, are their largest inconvenience.

From that day, George vowed to explore private air travel as an option, and found Access by Airly.

A product that revolves around you, a company that adores its card holders.

George could book a four seat light jet, with as little as a few hours notice and know exactly what the cost was going to be via the fixed occupied hourly pricing.

He could now arrive into a private lounge 15 minutes prior to departure.  No security, no queues, no hassles.  Compared to the chaotic airport lounges, the Fixed Base Operator’s lounge was eerily quiet.

A safe, clean, and reliable jet paired with healthy gourmet catering meant George could hit the ground running, meet those prospects, and close more deals.

And the best part?  

George could now get those good morning cuddles, leave his home in Brighton at 7AM for a 7:20AM wheels up out of Moorabbin and arrive at his first meeting in Sydney’s CBD by 9:15AM.

It gets better.

By the end of his busy day, George’s jet will be ready to fly him home in time for dinner.

Imagine having a travel platform that works to your schedule, not someone else’s.

Paying by Amex and Crypto, all of George’s flights are 100% carbon offset as part of his hourly rate.

Time is money, can you afford to be left behind by the airlines?

Frustrated commercial airline passenger.

Four things dirtier then the toilet in commercial airliners.

It is common knowledge that commercial airliners can be quite unhygienic. 150-300 passengers in a confined environment, minimal downtime between flights, it is no surprise.

But what we found from this report is that the toilet isn’t the dirtiest location on a commercial airliner.

Frustrated airline passenger.
Make sure you clean your hands before touching your face following a commercial flight!

Here are four things dirtier than an airliner’s toilet.

1) Seat Belt Buckles

You wont be able to avoid touching the seat belt buckle. While they CAN be cleaner than a toilet it is one of the items in constant hand contact with passengers.

2) Aisle Seat Headrests

Hard to believe at first, it now makes sense why the headrest on aisle seats can be quite unhygienic. Most passengers use the aisle seat to balance as they walk down the narrow path to their seat.

3) Overhead vents

An object in constant contact with passengers but perhaps overlooked when it comes to cleaning. Overhead vents had a total of 285 colony forming units (CFU) per square inch.

4) Seat Back Trays

Now this is disgusting.

It was found that the seat back tray was the dirtiest place onboard a commercial airliner. With a CFU reading of 8x the toilet flush button (2,155 CFU), it may be wise to bring along some sanitising wipes if germs aren’t your ‘thing’.

Although flying may seem romantic and exciting, it is very much to be considered a ‘public place’.

Sanitise regularly, especially on long flights.