‘Flight punctuality’ on track amid Covid-19; airline OTP improves, post-pandemic!

Japan Airlines Co aircraft are parked next to passenger boarding bridges at Haneda Airport in Tokyo. In the global aviation industry, one way of assessing the performance of airlines and airports is by looking at a carrier’s ‘OTP’ or on-time performance.

In the global aviation industry, one way of assessing the performance of airlines and airports is by looking at a carrier’s ‘OTP’ or on-time performance. It is a widely accepted method of understanding the punctuality of an airline like in the other modes of public transport. In aviation, an airline departure or arrival, which is considered to be “on time”, has a departure or arrival that occurs within 15 minutes of the scheduled time, points out the UK-based global travel data provider, OAG. Inevitably, external disruption such as adverse weather conditions, congestion, incidents, and industrial action can cause delays for operators, but in general, OTP can be influenced by the performance of airlines and airports. Therefore, OAG says it is widely used as a powerful key performance indication for airlines and airports and is also a potential service differentiator for marketing the brand to air travellers. Maintaining on-time performance is a huge task during the peak travel season, when airlines and airports invariably operate at capacity. Busy airports and airlines around the world have seen struggling when it comes to punctuality, challenged by huge traffic and congestion. That situation, however, has changed with the Covid-19 pandemic, which has decimated the global aviation industry. Drastic fall in passenger demand has meant huge reduction in flights worldwide. It has also meant that taxiways are not congested, airports are not operating at capacity, and airspace not constrained – essentially many markets still remain closed to each other, and people are not yet free to travel without a complicated set of quarantine and testing requirements. As the long journey towards an aviation recovery begins, OAG says it is a good time to look at what impact the Covid-19 crisis is having on flight punctuality. For the five months to May 2021, the average OTP for the world’s biggest airlines reached 84.1%. Back in 2019, the average OTP for this same group was 76.8%, so a full seven percentage points improvement and more. In 2019, there were 102 qualifying airlines in the ‘Punctuality League’, OAG says and notes currently there are 57. In May, there were some 13 airlines operating with OTP of 90% or over, compared to just three that averaged above 90% in the full year 2019. “One of the many challenges that airports and airlines will face as recovery continues to build is passenger tolerance for delays. Anyone who has travelled during the pandemic knows that airports have been quieter, less chaotic places to be, in large part because there are far fewer other passengers,” says renowned global aviation analyst Deirdre Fulton. “Whilst there will be some acceptance of the need for additional time for testing in an airport (be it temperature, checking Covid test results, etc) this acceptance will be challenged as airports begin to get busier again, and most likely the typical OTP performance we saw pre-Covid will be aspirational for some airports and airlines,” Fulton wrote in OAG. Obviously, the pandemic has redefined relationships to the extent that things that were once not normal, has become the new norm during this challenging time. Perhaps, we need to have another look at the ‘OTP model’ and what punctuality essentially means these days. “What constitutes ‘on time’ may need to be considered again,” Fulton says and adds, “In a post-Covid world, the aviation industry will be wrestling with the increased journey times through airports created by additional testing measures, or vaccination confirmation processes, and even more complexity. Understanding the challenges and developing richer OTP data to adapt to a changing world has never been more important.” Currently, battling the Covid-19 crisis is the world’s top priority and airlines are certainly committed to the fight. Undoubtedly, the freedom to travel is important. Connecting the world by air will provide vital stability for tens of millions of people whose jobs have either been lost or remain at risk from the pandemic. It will bring relief to social and mental toll caused by loss of income, lockdowns and family separations. And it will enable human connections that we all value. If we work together – the air transport sector, governments and health experts – we can get the world flying again, even if it is a bit delayed! n Pratap John is Business Editor at Gulf Times. Twitter handle: @PratapJohn