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The CrowdStrike computer crash contributed to Jetstar’s cancellations doubling in July, rising from 153 in June to 299 last month.
New BITRE figures released by the Department of Transport also revealed, industry-wide, just 72.5 per cent of flights departed on time, compared to 77.8 per cent the prior month.
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The international IT shutdown on 19 July — dubbed the world’s biggest ever — was caused by a bungled software update issued by cyber security provider CrowdStrike.
“This month’s on-time arrivals figure was lower than the long-term average performance for all routes (80.9 per cent) and the on-time departures figure was also lower than the long-term average (82.0 per cent),” said BITRE’s latest release.
“The rate of cancellations was higher than the long-term average of 2.2 per cent.
“The Qantas network (Qantas and QantasLink combined operations) recorded 72.8 per cent for on-time arrivals while the Virgin Australia network (Virgin Australia and Virgin Australia Regional Airlines combined operations) recorded 70.3 per cent.
“Hinterland achieved the highest on-time arrivals at 90.9 per cent, followed by Skytrans at 80.9 per cent, QantasLink at 75.2 per cent, Virgin Australia at 70.5 per cent, Qantas at 69.1 per cent, Rex Airlines at 67.1 per cent, Jetstar at 66.9 per cent, and Virgin Australia Regional Airlines at 63.2 per cent.”
The now infamous CrowdStrike update caused blue screens to appear on Microsoft-operated systems, which prevented many firms from accessing their internet-based “cloud” services.
For airlines, this particularly impacted boarding, check-in, and baggage data. Jetstar was forced to cancel virtually all flights until 2am the next day after its baggage systems were affected and check-in issues occurred.
The airline also had to contend with its communication system being affected, making it difficult for the business to contact customers.
Despite the delays, most services returned to normal the next day.
