Rex to fly between Australian capital cities

[Mr_Gimlet]

Rather than creating a new thread I thought I'd dip in here and ask if Rex are generally reliable? Mrs_G is in an ABQ (Anyone But Qantas) phase after recent shabby treatment and Rex have a good fare from Canberra to Melbourne. I don't mind it being delayed but concerned about cancellation as it's the only flight that day.

 

[BRIS_VA_HAWK]

Rather than creating a new thread I thought I'd dip in here and ask if Rex are generally reliable? Mrs_G is in an ABQ (Anyone But Qantas) phase after recent shabby treatment and Rex have a good fare from Canberra to Melbourne. I don't mind it being delayed but concerned about cancellation as it's the only flight that day.

My experience with REX has been good, however their B737 fleet is so small that of one aircraft goes tech then it creates more issues than QF/VA, who have more flexibility.

You can only try and work from there.

 

[UP4014]

Rather than creating a new thread I thought I'd dip in here and ask if Rex are generally reliable? Mrs_G is in an ABQ (Anyone But Qantas) phase after recent shabby treatment and Rex have a good fare from Canberra to Melbourne. I don't mind it being delayed but concerned about cancellation as it's the only flight that day.

That's the risk in using anyone but QF, delays without backup.

 

[RB]

Rather than creating a new thread I thought I'd dip in here and ask if Rex are generally reliable? Mrs_G is in an ABQ (Anyone But Qantas) phase after recent shabby treatment and Rex have a good fare from Canberra to Melbourne. I don't mind it being delayed but concerned about cancellation as it's the only flight that day.

Should be able to uncover some figures here Airline On Time Performance Statistics —Monthly | Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics

 

[Mr_Gimlet]

That's the risk in using anyone but QF, delays without backup.

The ABQ was triggered by QF refusing to put her on another flight the same day, so the risk isi still there...

 

[dajop]

Rather than creating a new thread I thought I'd dip in here and ask if Rex are generally reliable? Mrs_G is in an ABQ (Anyone But Qantas) phase after recent shabby treatment and Rex have a good fare from Canberra to Melbourne. I don't mind it being delayed but concerned about cancellation as it's the only flight that day.

A quick look at recent flight history (i.e. since 4 Feb was the last date I looked at, ) on that particular flight indicates no cancellations, 1 arrival 1:40 late, 1 ~ 1hr late, 2 x 40 mins late and the rest pretty much close to on time.edit: looked back to 16 Dec and still no cancellations

But now that you've asked, remember Murphy's Law

History ✈ Regional Express Airlines #621 - FlightAware

Best Flight Tracker: Live Tracking Maps, Flight Status, and Airport Delays for airline flights, private/GA flights, and airports.

flightaware.com

 

[UP4014]

The ABQ was triggered by QF refusing to put her on another flight the same day, so the risk isi still there...

Unlikely they would have refused if they had cancelled a flight and seats available on another flight.

The risk is reduced with QF and I have never been left stranded by them even with international cancellations, domestic bird strikes putting planes out of service and bad weather.

I would still suggest QF is the safer option if concerned about getting you to you destination. (would be interested to hear where the cancelled flight happened and why refused to transport MrsG. Something doesn't sit right but I may be thinking completely differently to what happened and the route.

 

[Mr_Gimlet]

interested to hear where the cancelled flight happened and why refused to transport MrsG

The saga is here Best pathway to whinge that might get a positive outcome?

But I agree QF or VA is safer. The very good fare with Rex is a major contributing factor.

 

[Harrison_133]

Rather than creating a new thread I thought I'd dip in here and ask if Rex are generally reliable? Mrs_G is in an ABQ (Anyone But Qantas) phase after recent shabby treatment and Rex have a good fare from Canberra to Melbourne. I don't mind it being delayed but concerned about cancellation as it's the only flight that day.

In terms of cancellations, you should be fine. Looking at the BITRE data back to Sep ‘22 for CBR-MEL specifically, there was just 1 cancellation in November.

Having just 1 flight per day probably insulates CBR-MEL from cancellations. For example, when 2 aircraft were out of service last week, SYD-MEL was most affected by cancellations. On one day alone, 3 out of 7 sectors on the route canned, but there were still other services to re-accomodate people.

My experience with REX has been good, however their B737 fleet is so small that of one aircraft goes tech then it creates more issues than QF/VA, who have more flexibility.

I’d echo these thoughts. When they have aircraft out of service, they really drop the ball. Just last week they had 2 aircraft out. This caused many lengthy delays including a few up to 6 hours.

If you’re not concerned with OTP, Rex is still a good option. They usually perform well.

For CBR-MEL (from BITRE data) specifically:
Jan 23: 80.6% on time departures & arrivals
Dec 22: 56.3% on time departures, 50.0% arrivals
Nov 22: 65.5% on time departures, 72.4% arrivals
Oct 22: 74.2% on time departures, 54.8% arrivals

 

[UP4014]

The saga is here Best pathway to whinge that might get a positive outcome?

But I agree QF or VA is safer. The very good fare with Rex is a major contributing factor.

Ta, I went back and looked but couldn't see the route other than one end of the trip was Canberra and it was a rewards booking.

The problem with "I won't use QF again" is that REX will let you down at some stage and are you going to suck it up to avoid using QF or "I won't use REX again" and head over to Virgin.

I fly with a work college, he goes Virgin and I go QF. He uses Virgin because he didn't want to use QF again. Then one Friday night he was sitting in the Melbourne Virgin Lounge and I in the QF lounge with us both going to Sydney. Virgin was telling everyone delays due to bad weather and QF had nil delays.

Turns out Virgin was still trying to catch up from 12 hours earlier when the bad weather messed up their scheduling and they still had people waiting from the AM.

Good luck with voting with your wallet, in the end it's all you can do.

 

[Mr_Gimlet]

I'm doing the flight up with Qantas as that's higher risk. I also now know to ignore texts and just go the airport to get it sorted.

I don't think they'll miss my dollars, but it might help make a competitor sustainable.

(The fiasco flight was Mel-Cbr)

 

[Fortunatecrow]

QF has more capacity to back up yes in response to maintenance problems, but will cancel flights to consolidate flights for cost purposes whereas Rex just couldn't...so there are pluses and minuses. I've had one Rex flight delayed, no cancellations.

 

[Saab34]

Have seen some Rex cancellations lately namely all MEL-SYD-MEL, I assume to keep the other smaller frequency routes going. They don't seem to push the aircraft as hard either, I generally always see a 737 parked up at an airport with doors closed.

 

[AIRwin]

Looks like it’ll be VH-MFM and was originally Jet Airways, then Vistara. 12J156Y config.

2-WTFL Flight Tracking and History 26-May-2022 (MEL / YMML-DRW / YPDN) - FlightAware

Track 2-WTFL flight from Melbourne Tullamarine to Darwin Int'l / RAAF

flightaware.com

VH-MFM REX Airlines Boeing 737-800

Boeing 737-800 with registration VH-MFM (ex VT-JTA, 2-BTTB, VT-TGF, 5W-TFL, 2-WTFL) airframe details and operator history including first flight and delivery dates, seat configurations, engines, fleet numbers and names

www.planespotters.net

This was involved in an emergency landing:

Rex 737 lands safely after smoke reported from toilet

The eight-year-old Boeing 737-800 (pictured), registered as VH-MFM, landed at 11:23am this morning as flight ZL-37 from Sydney after smoke was reported from the aft lavatory, according to a spokesperson for the airline.

australianaviation.com.au

 

[Fortunatecrow]

I think I was on this plane to SYD immediately before the problem return flight. It's not clear to me whether there was a genuine mechanical issue or whether someone was smoking in the toilet?

 

[AIRwin]

I think I was on this plane to SYD immediately before the problem return flight.

ZL18?

 

[Fortunatecrow]

ZL18?

yep

 

[Saab34]

So one more aircraft next month then another in July. Appears to announcement yet on routes.

I assume all bases to Perth?

 

[HS-TQE]

9V-MGA and 9V-MGB still listed as 'stored' and yet to be delivered to REX. Planespotters lists the config for both as 189Y, but I'd expect that to change. Likely they'll go 8J with the 3rd row ripped out.

 

[Saab34]

Yeah Rex told the ASX in Feb, that one would be delivered in June and July.

Interesting that Virgin didn’t get hold of them considering the others they took.