Delayed flights, mid-air glitches: Indian flyers face turbulence from airlines
India Today
Emergency landings and system malfunctions have kept airlines on their toes in recent months. Nearly two malfunctions have been registered every day since April this year.
Back in the 90s and the 2000s, if you travelled by train in India, you factored in a couple of hours of delay at least. It was that inevitable. Surprisingly, this is fast becoming a staple of air travel as well. Airlines’ punctuality has taken a sharp dip this year. IndiGo, a market leader and the one ranking fourth among top global airlines in OAG Punctuality League, is no exception.
The on-time performance of IndiGo was 93.9 per cent in January 2022, which fell to 84.5 per cent in June 2022, according to data provided in Lok Sabha on July 28. In the same duration, the on-time performance of Go First fell from 94.5 per cent to 76 per cent and that of Spice Jet dropped from 87.5 per cent to 79.4 per cent.
The deteriorating punctuality is not the only problem plaguing the aviation industry right now. Emergency landings and system malfunctions have also kept airlines on their toes in recent months. Nearly two malfunctions have been registered every day since April this year.
“During the last three months i.e from April 1 to June 30, a total of 150 incidents have occurred to the aircraft operated by scheduled airlines due to component and system malfunction,” Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia apprised the Parliament on July 28.
It is noteworthy that there are 692 flights operating in India, of which 283 belong to Indigo and 116 belong to Air India. In terms of passengers carried, Indigo is the market leader with a 55 per cent share, followed by Spice jet (13.3 per cent) and Air India (nine per cent), as of 2020-21.
The Indian airline industry has been reeling under stress not only from operational errors but also from a financial crunch. Even before the pandemic began, in FY 2019-2020, four out of five major airlines booked operating losses. This was aggravated by the national lockdown and the financial position of airlines severely declined in the financial year 2021.
It seems the aviation sector was caught napping as demand came with a vengeance following two years of pandemic-induced slumber.
