Jetstar passengers are complaining of the budget air carrier's flight delays and postponement. The average delay of 25 per cent of Jetstar planes in January was at least 15 minutes.

The air carrier, which just changed owners, also logged the highest cancellation rate with 3.5 per cent or 230 flights that failed to take off, the Herald Sun reports. Jetstar's performance record is considered the worst among commercial passenger carriers in contrast to Tiger Airways which was considered the best.

Almost 90 per cent of Tiger planes leave on time, while Regional Express came in a strong second at 89.2 per cent.

Other passenger complaints against Jetstar include ticket holders not being informed of routes being cancelled such as that from Brisbane to Christchurch. Travelers were instead advised to fly to Wellington or Dunedin by Jetstar which explained the change to a business decision.

Qantas Airways announced on Tuesday in Hanoi that the budget carrier is now majority owned by Vietnam Airlines. The Vietnamese air carrier owns 69.93 per cent of Jetstar Pacific, while Qantas' holding was increased to 30 from 27 per cent. Vietnam Airlines bought the Jetstar shares from the Vietnamese State Capital Investment Corporation.

The ownership restructuring is expected to boost Jetstar's growth through its acquisition of new Airbus A320 planes by the middle of 2012. The new owners made an initial capital infusion of $25 million, which includes $7.5 million from Qantas, to fund the expansion of Jetstar's fleet to 15 Airbus aircraft from the current seven Boeing 737-400s.

The changes are expected to end Jetstar's rivalry with Vietnam Airlines and boost the budget air carrier's share in the growing Vietnamese travel market.

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