IndiGo struggles with wave of flight delays

It wasn’t always the case, but for the past six months, India’s largest airline by market share has been unable to beat its rivals in punctuality, monthly data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation shows.

Before April, IndiGo was the most punctual airline in domestic flights for February and March, with 95.4% and 93.9% of flights reaching destinations on time, respectively. Since then, however, the Tata group airlines AirAsia India and Vistara have soared ahead in time-keeping.

According to September data from DGCA, Vistara was the most punctual airline with an on-time performance of 91%, followed by AirAsia India at 89.8%, Air India at 87.1% and IndiGo trailing at 84.1%.

IndiGo, which has a 57.7% market share, lists being on time as one of its three pillars, in addition to offering low fares and hassle-free service. A snapshot of the monthly punctuality data over the last five years shows that 2021 was the best year for IndiGo as it was the most punctual airline in 10 out of 12 months.

However, it had performed poorly in 2020, 2019 and 2018, posting the best punctuality rate in only 11 out of 35 months. In 2017, it secured the top position in punctuality in eight out of 12 months.

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The main reason for delays in aircraft departure was listed as reactionary, according to DGCA. Reactionary delay is industry jargon for late departure on account of the late arrival of incoming aircraft. This was the reason for 68% of late departures in September. Most delays occurred at Mumbai airport.

To be sure, it’s difficult to compare Indigo with other airlines because of its sheer size, which makes it a far busier airline with the country’s biggest fleet of aircraft. The airline has seen an impact of multiple factors on its on-time performance over the past six months, three people aware of the matter said.

“The primary issue is that IndiGo being the largest airline, also has maximum connectivity with the constrained airports such as Delhi and Mumbai. There are 150-200 departures daily from these busy airports, so one single delay can cause a chain reaction. Airlines also suffer in their punctuality during the monsoon season due to diversions and late departures,” one of the people cited above said.

Unrest among several cabin crew employees over compensation led to a decline in its punctuality in July, an analyst said.

Another person said the DGCA considers a departure to be delayed if it takes more than 15 minutes for the plane to take off from the time it rolls off the bay. At the same time, Indigo operates out of three terminals in Delhi and operates 1,600 flights per day, compared to its rivals’ far fewer flights.

“Availability of engines and spare parts have also been a factor sometimes. If an aircraft is found to require a change in spare part during the pre-flight inspection and if that’s not available, then that also leads to delays as another aircraft has to be arranged to fix such a situation,” a third person said.

While SpiceJet has consistently been ahead of the industry in passenger load factor or capacity utilization, it, too, has struggled with punctuality throughout the year. It stood fifth in the punctuality list with an on-time performance of 78.4% in September, followed by Alliance Air and GoFirst airline.