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An airline’s on-time performance is defined as an aircraft’s arrival at the gate within 15 minutes of the scheduled arrival time
On-time performance is critical in the aviation industry as it reflects the punctuality of departure and arrival time. (File/PTI)
India’s domestic airlines are struggling to operate on time, with all major flag carriers failing to achieve even 80 per cent punctuality in the last calendar year, official data analysed by News18 show. The data from Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) shows that Akasa Air was the only airline in India that managed to have on-time performance in about 85% flights during the three-month period between March and May 2024. In the remaining months, the on-time performance for all the airline operators in India, remains below 80 per cent, as shown in the graph.
On-time performance is critical in the aviation industry as it reflects the punctuality of departure and arrival time. An airline’s on-time performance is defined as an aircraft’s arrival at the gate within 15 minutes of the scheduled arrival time. An airport’s on-time performance is measured by on-time departing flights. Flights that are delayed by more than 15 minutes are considered not on time.
The performance of airlines and airports in India has gone down over the years. ‘Cirium’, a top aviation analytics firm, releases an annual report on ‘On-Time Performance Review’ and after Indian airports and operators getting ranked in 2023, 2022 and 2021, the year 2024 saw no top spot for Indian airports or airlines.
In 2021, the Chennai Airport ranked eighth in the global list for on-time performance among large airports by ‘Cirium’. It was the only Indian airport listed in the top 10. In the 2022 report, Bangalore’s Kempegowda International Airport and Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport found a place in second and seventh spots, respectively. The airport in Karnataka witnessed on-time departure for 84% flights while Delhi saw 82% on-time departure.
In 2023, two of the top five global airports in on-time performance were from India in Cirium’s annual report — Bangalore’s Kempegowda International Airport (third) and Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad (2nd) both with more than 84% on-time performance. Indigo has also been ranked by Cirium in the past.
The DGCA data shows that with average on-time performance at 73% for 2024, Akasa Air was the most punctual, followed by Indigo at 71%. In 2023, the on-time performance for Indigo was 85.4% and in 2022 it was 87.8%, as shown in the graph.
Every month, the government issues the on-time performance of scheduled domestic airlines for four metro airports – Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai. The analysis of the data for the calendar year shows that operators struggled to even achieve 75% on-time performance.
DELAYED BEYOND TWO HOURS
At least 26.75 lakh passengers were impacted in 2024 as the flights were delayed beyond two hours. Over 11.79 lakh Indigo passengers were impacted. Indigo dominated the sky with more than 60% market share in terms of passengers carried. As it carried the highest number of passengers, those impacted in delay were also the highest.
The next two airlines in terms of market share are Air India and SpiceJet. More than 7.27 lakh passengers were impacted due to delay in Air India flight beyond two hours during 2024. SpiceJet was third with 4.45 lakh passengers impacted.
As per an official statement, scheduled flights are delayed or cancelled due to various reasons including weather, technical, operational, Air traffic control, ramp, airport issues, reactionary and others.
In order to reduce inconvenience caused to the passengers due to delay of the flights, the DGCA in Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) Section 3 has listed the facilities to be provided to passengers by airlines.
In case of delay, the airline has to provide meals and refreshments or even hotel accommodation or alternate flight, if not full refund to the passenger who has checked in on-time depending on the expected delay beyond its originally announced scheduled time of departure.
Indigo, with the highest number of impacted passengers, only provides “refreshments” in cases of delay, as per the details it submitted to the DGCA. Air India offered refreshments or lunch apart from transfer to other airlines if its flights were delayed beyond two hours.
The highest number of passengers impacted due to flight delays beyond two hours was reported in January 2024 at 4.82 lakh. April 2024 saw the lowest number of passengers impacted at 1.09 lakh.
HOAX CALL MENACE
The year 2024 saw an unusual number of hoax calls, mostly about bomb threats. Between January and November, a total of 999 hoax bomb threat messages/calls were received, up from 122 in calendar year 2023 and 27 in 2022. Out of these almost 1,000 calls, about 670 were received in October 2024 alone. A total of 1.85 lakh passengers were impacted in October 2024 after flights were delayed beyond two hours.
As per the Ministry of Civil Aviation, 256 first information reports (FIR) have been filed in 2024 till November 14, out of which 163 FIRs have been filed during October 14 and November 14.
Hoax bomb threats result in adversely affecting operations of the flights resulting in impact on airlines and airports operations, the ministry had said.