On-time performances of flights: Senior officials meet aviation regulators

The ongoing airlines’ tiff over who fared better on the clock entered the second round on Tuesday after senior officials met the aviation regulator with concerns and calculators.

The ongoing airlines’ tiff over who fared better on the clock entered the second round on Tuesday after senior officials met the aviation regulator with concerns and calculators.

The ongoing airlines’ tiff over who fared better on the clock entered the second round on Tuesday after senior officials met the aviation regulator with concerns and calculators. (HT FILE)

Sources said that SpiceJet chairman and managing director, Ajay Singh “expressed serious concern” against the regulator’s decision to probe the methods of computation flight punctuality.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had set up a panel to investigate airlines’ on-time performances (OTP) days after Indigo Airlines accused the Mumbai airport of inaccuracy.

While the SpiceJet spokesperson refused to comment, a senior official said Singh reiterated the points reported by HT on Monday. “He told the DGCA chief, BS Bhullar that the probe reflected double standards as the airline crying foul now did not have any problem with the mechanism until it had the best OTP,” said the official, requesting anonymity.

The Indigo spokesperson said that its allegations were backed with evidence.

“We have questioned the discrepancy in the OTP and also provided evidence of the same to the DGCA,” said Ajay Jasra, the head of corporate communication at Indigo. He added that manual recording of the data was prone to manipulation and not consumer interest. “The reaction of some airlines is surprising. If their OTP data is indeed genuine, there is no reason for them to be nervous or oppose a fair and independent investigation.”

After discounts, OTP has become the primary yardstick to lure fliers. Some airlines have aggressively used it for branding.

The squabble over the number game did not end there. Some airlines also blew their trumpets through press statements.

On Tuesday, SpiceJet said it recorded the best OTP at the Delhi airport in December. A day earlier Indigo said that it was among the top ten most punctual airlines in the Asia Pacific citing a report by Flightstats Inc., a real-time global flight data service provider.

Air India, which was named among the three worst airlines in the same report also dismissed the findings. In a note sent to Flightstats’ editor, the national carrier said that data was misleading and sought an explanation.

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