Bonza Aviation's recent entry into voluntary administration has sent shockwaves through the Australian airline industry, with the latest data from YouGov's Brand Index revealing positive impacts on consumer sentiment and the performance of other airlines.

The abrupt cancellation of all Bonza flights caused a significant drop in Bonza's Buzz score (which measures whether consumers have heard more positive or negative things about a brand in the past two weeks) by around 16 points.

In contrast, Jetstar and Qantas, which both had negative buzz scores at the start of April, have seen substantial score jumps of 6.6 points and 5.6 points respectively. The shift in consumer sentiment has also been reflected in the number of Australians who would recommend these airlines, with Jetstar seeing the largest improvement of 7.2 points. Virgin Australia, despite a smaller improvement of 2.6 points, remains the most recommended carrier on the list.

The suspension of Bonza's services has also had a knock-on effect on other airlines. Virgin Australia and Qantas, along with its low-cost arm Jetstar, stepped in to offer affected passengers flights to their destinations at no additional cost where seats were available. This move has likely contributed to their improved buzz scores and recommendation rates.

However, not all airlines have seen an improvement. Apart from Scoot, the low-cost arm of Singapore Airlines, which saw its buzz score dip from 0.9 on April 1 to -0.1 by May 8, other major airlines operating in Australia have either seen improvements or largely maintained their buzz scores over the same period.

When it comes to personal consideration for their next trip, Australians have shown a clear preference. Qantas saw the largest improvement of 7.7 percentage points over the period – from 29.5% on April 1 to 37.2% by May 8 – and now leads the other carriers as of early May. Virgin Australia, previously the most considered of the pack in early April, is now in second place at 34.8%, followed by Jetstar at 24.8%.

Meanwhile, Bonza's Recommendation score took a similar dive, from 3.2 on April 1 to -7.9 by May 8. Scoot and Air Asia also saw their scores dip by 1.5 and 0.6 points over the same period.