Airlines' slow procedures cause delays

New Delhi: Apart from hastening check-ins and baggage loading, the authorities in the aviation ministry have insisted on improved aircraft maintenance to avoid delays caused by snags that have become a norm with some carriers. Delays caused by airlines' slow procedures are very common. For instance, an airline's 7.10 pm flight from Delhi to Hyderabad on Friday got airborne only after 8 pm. On the other hand, a Hyderabad-Delhi flight left five minutes before time and landed in Delhi 20 minutes ahead of schedule. "This shows efficiency of airline commercial staff is a big factor in flights leaving and arriving on time," said an official.
Senior ministry officials are learnt to be doing the monitoring daily. While accepting delays do happen at security counters — especially in times of scare — the government has asked airline commercial staffs to ensure check-ins happen in time and that morning times leave as per schedule so that day-long operation is not affected.
On their part, airlines point out that the morning and evening peak hour schedules are packed with back to back flights and in some cases the allotment could be more than the hourly capacity also.
08/07/07 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Jul 2007, General Aviation Jul 2007