Number of delayed flights dip 15% in one month: MIAL report

The civil aviation ministry’s policy to expose airlines whose flights are frequently delayed (delayed 20% of the times they were operated in a month) has yielded results.

The civil aviation ministry’s policy to expose airlines whose flights are frequently delayed (delayed 20% of the times they were operated in a month) has yielded results.

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Data released by the ministry on Wednesday shows that 280 flights landing or taking off from the city airport were frequently delayed in May, which translates to a 14.63% decrease since April, when 328 flights were frequently delayed.

Acting on the ministry’s directive, the Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) began compiling the list of consistently delayed flights in April. The move was aimed at alerting passengers about errant airlines and helping them avoid such flights.

“The move seems to be working well. We will continue it till delays are completed eliminated,” said a senior civil aviation official who requested anonymity.

In May, Air India topped the delay list. In all, 43 city-bound Air India flights and 37 outbound flights (departures) were frequently delayed.

Jet Airways came second with 42 inbound domestic flights and 26 of its departures being consistently delayed.

Kingfisher Airlines, followed next with 36 of its city-bound flights and 24 of domestic departures making it to the blacklist.

Among low-cost carriers, Jetlite and SpiceJet were the poor performers (see box for details).

Although, the overall number of regularly delayed flights has decreased, certain flights were delayed almost every time they were operated last month. For instance, a Kingfisher Airlines flight to Delhi (IT 312) did not land as per schedule even once in 31 operations.

Air India’s daily flight from Mangalore (AI 680) to Mumbai was delayed 30 out of the 31 times it landed here. Among departures, a Hyderabad-bound Jet Airways flight (9W 2135) was delayed every time it took-off from the city.