Ministry tightens screws on delayed flights

New Delhi: Strict vigil by the civil aviation ministry on domestic airlines over delayed flight schedule seems to be showing results. After Delhi airport last month reported an improved 16% delay by all airlines on all flights taking off between 6 am and 8 am, now Mumbai has shown better results this month at 10.5%. Leading the pack for delayed flights is Indian with 23.7%, followed by Air Deccan at 16.7% and Kingfisher Airlines at 15%. Jet Lite reported 12.5% delays in its flights, while Jet Airways scored better at 2.6%. Go Air had a 5.9% delay, while Spicejet and IndiGo reported no delays in their flights.
The monitoring team from the ministry conducted the study at the Mumbai airport between 6 am and 8 am from August 7 to 12. The schedules of altogether 224 flights were surveyed, of which only 219 operated. There were 23 flight delays during this time, which translates to 10.5%.
Interestingly, following its tiff with the airlines on levying a congestion surcharge, the aviation ministry recently started a daily monitoring of actual flight movements in major metros such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. The ministry has only now realised what the fliers have been complaining about for long — most flights don’t stick to schedules.
26/08/07 Raja Awasthi/Economic Times

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Airports Aug 2007, General Aviation Aug 2007