You’ll soon know which delayed flights to avoid

Fliers from Mumbai can soon cut out delays from their air trips by avoiding flights that are frequently delayed. The civil aviation ministry is in the process of compiling a list of flights that have been consistently delayed and it plans to put the list out in public domain to help fliers.

Fliers from Mumbai can soon cut out delays from their air trips by avoiding flights that are frequently delayed. The civil aviation ministry is in the process of compiling a list of flights that have been consistently delayed and it plans to put the list out in public domain to help fliers.

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"We have asked the Mumbai airport operator to submit a list of flights that are delayed more than 20% of the time. This data would be published so that people can plan their travel schedules better," said Alok Sinha, joint secretary, civil aviation ministry. The errant flights are also likely to lose their present take-off or landing slots in the next schedule, which comes into effect from October.

The ministry has started the exercise at Mumbai airport, the country's second busiest airport, after the decision was taken earlier this month during a meet to review flight delays at the city airport.

The review found that in March only 68% Mumbai-bound flights arrived on time and 77% departures were as per schedule. This despite the aviation regulator's year-old rule to send flights, which were not ready for departure 15 minutes before take-off, right at the end of the queue.

While flight delays were eliminated entirely soon after the rule was implemented, the main runway repair work and fog season again led to delays. So far, the regulator was lenient with the airlines because of these reasons, but now they want to ensure flights are back to being on time.