Budget brigade rules the skies

On-time performance is a significant criterion when it comes to choosing an airline, particularly for business-class passengers. It's surprising then that on domestic routes, low-cost carriers managed to steal a march over full-fare airlines as far as arriving and departing on time was concerned. The trend continued in September with low-cost airlines leading the list of best on-time performers.
IndiGo led the budget brigade with 88.4% of its flights landing and departing on time. It was followed by Paramount, Go Air and SpiceJet clocking an OTP ranging between 87.2% and 84.9% (see box), according to data collected by the office of Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for flight operations in India. Full-frill carriers followed, with Kingfisher Airlines recording an OTP of 84.3%.
The overall average OTP for domestic operations the month of September was 82.9%.
As far international operations were concerned, 81.8% of flights departed on time as against 73.7% on-time arrivals, during the month of September. But this data takes into account only 41 of the 70 foreign carriers that operate flights in India.
What is interesting to note is the difference between the percentage of flights that arrived late and those that departed late. Typically, an aircraft that arrives late should also see a delayed departure. "But the percentage is almost double for delayed arrivals as compared to delayed departures, which means in many instances, even though a flight arrived late the airline operator managed to get it to depart on time,'' said the consultant.
17/10/09 Manju V/Times of India

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Oct 2009