Pilot attrition is to blame for the recent delays and cancellations of Rex Airlines flights in Western Australia, along with skilled labour shortages and supply chain issues, the airline says.
Rex Airlines operates in Perth, Albany, Esperance, Monkey Mia, and Carnarvon.
Network strategy general manager Warrick Lodge said the carrier was dealing with the highest attrition rate it had seen since the Global Financial Crisis.
"It's quite significant at the moment due to recruiting from the Qantas group, Virgin Australia, and also international airlines as capacity grows coming out of the COVID pandemic," he said.
"The shortage of pilots can also be a product of other delays, which then means that our crew might run out of hours, which is a regulatory requirement.
"Because of the crew numbers being tighter than normal, we don't have the normal buffer to be able to call in additional pilots, so the tighter crew numbers do impact service levels."
In an attempt to ease pilot shortages, Rex is recruiting direct-entry pilots where possible, as well as operating a cadet scheme that produces around 40 to 50 pilots a year.
"But it's going to be a long process," Mr Lodge said.
"We know that it's not up to the standards that communities have come to expect of Rex, in recent months.
"It's not a simple fix, so I just want people to understand that Rex is working extremely hard to address these issues."
Trial in doubt
The state government has announced a trial of increased Rex services on the Albany to Perth and Esperance to Perth routes.
Weekly flights on the former route were increased from 20 to 24 and from 18 to 21 respectively.
Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said the government was committed to working with aviation partners to ensure the community had efficient and effective regional air services.
"This is a show of goodwill by Rex Airlines to these communities that have been impacted by recent flight disruptions and responds to the surging demand for air services in these regions," she said.
But Mr Lodge said if the staffing issue could not be resolved the extra services would be discontinued.
"If the community aren't accepting of the on-time performance or a certain level of delays, then we may have to decide not to continue with those levels," he said.
