Representatives for the airline said that proposed laws to crack down on slot hoarding have "some good things" and will help drive transparency for customers.

But Qantas Domestic chief executive Markus Svensson denied the airline had been doing the wrong thing, saying there have been 10 per cent more flights departing on time over the past six months.

"We do not apply for slots without having the intention to operate them ... we categorically deny that we slot hoard and try any games," he told a senate inquiry on Tuesday.

"We do use our slots. We intend to use them and we apply for them."

Asked if Qantas backed the changes, Mr Svensson said there were "some good things in it".

"Having more movements in case of disruption, that's a good thing. Transparency is a good thing."

Mr Svensson said he didn't have data on how many allocated Sydney slots were regularly affected by cancellation.

"I cannot stress the point that we absolutely intend to operate every single flight, but we don't," he said.

"It's not physically possible, because things are unpredictable in this industry."

Opposition transport spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie said she was concerned Virgin Australia wasn't appearing before the inquiry.

"Qantas has been under a lot of criticism publicly for their use of the existing slot system, and it does you credit that you've actually taken advantage to front up ... I wish Virgin had have done the same," she said.

The senate inquiry is examining legislation on flights at Sydney Airport, which result in penalties for airlines that deliberately cancel services to maintain valuable slots at terminals.

Slots at Sydney Airport are limited to 80 take-offs and landings per hour.

Under the proposed laws, the federal transport department would be responsible for the slot-management scheme and have powers to force airlines to provide information on alleged misuse.

The laws will allow for the number of flights per hour at Sydney Airport to be increased if there is bad weather.

With AAP.