2024-09-23 21:22:24
New Delhi: ‘Set your watches friends, we are on time.’ JRD Tata had commented on Air India’s first international flight. The flight departed from Bombay (now Mumbai) to London via Cairo and Geneva on June 8, 1948 and reached its destination on time the next day. But now that is no longer the case for Air India passengers. There are constant complaints of delays in the airline’s long and medium haul flights. Air India has returned to the Tata Group after seven decades but its on-time performance is continuously deteriorating. Vistara was more punctual than Air India. Now on November 12, it is going to merge with Air India. The problems of Air India passengers can be understood with an example. On August 31, 2024, flight number AI 129 from Mumbai and London departed about nine hours after its scheduled departure time of 5.15 am. On the same day, the Mumbai-New York flight departed after a delay of 12 hours. Flight tracking sites show that the AI 129 flight departed after 2 pm on August 28, 29 and 30. Similarly, on August 23 and 24, it departed after 8 am. The list of delays is endless. A flight that operates within 15 minutes of its scheduled departure/arrival time is considered on time.
bad record
Air India’s domestic flight record is also very poor in terms of punctuality. According to DGCA data, only SpiceJet and Alliance Air have had worse on-time performance in recent months. But passengers have options on domestic routes. Air India’s domestic market share was 9.7% in the year 2023. However, the international market is different. Air India operates medium to ultra long haul nonstop flights to North America, Europe, the Far East and Australia.
Air India is the only direct service on many routes such as Delhi to Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, Mumbai to Man Francisco and Bengaluru to San Francisco. Air India’s direct flights to North America are the fastest option as the airline passes through Russia and takes the shortest route. The delay in these flights is breaking the patience of passengers who are loyal customers of Air India. According to OAG, in April 2024, Air India’s share in international flights from India was 20%, Indigo’s 17% and Emirates’ 7%. There is no comment from Air India in this regard at present.
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DGCA’s intervention
Recently, DGCA had to intervene due to the continuous delay of three long-haul flights. On May 24, Air India’s flight between Mumbai-San Francisco was delayed by 18 hours. Similarly, on May 30, Delhi-San Francisco flight was delayed by more than 30 hours and on June 1, Delhi-Vancouver flight was delayed by more than 20 hours. The DGCA notice said that Air India has repeatedly failed to take proper care of passengers. DGCA does not provide OTP data for international flights.
TOI spoke to a cross-section of stakeholders to find out the reasons for Air India’s poor performance. Engineering and maintenance issues were the most common reasons for frequent grounding of aircraft. Lack of spares and poor crew planning also cause delays in Air India flights. Sources say Air India has taken on more flights than its capacity. This has led to overutilisation of aircraft. The company has added many international flights.
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Management is far from ground reality
Many stakeholders say that the management is out of touch with ground reality and the new managers are not willing to take the old team along. This has made the old employees angry. Many long-time employees now feel isolated. Sources said that there are several apps and emails for everything. If there is something to report, do it by email. It may take several days to get a response.
Air India insiders also believe that just bringing in new aircraft will not solve these issues.
AI Engineering Services Limited (AIESL) was separated at the time of privatisation of Air India. Sources said that systems and processes should be in place. Our long-haul flights operate with the maximum carrying capacity of aircraft. Even a small problem means passengers or luggage being left behind, flights being delayed or cancelled. Bombay House (Tata’s headquarters) is aware of the matter. It is closely monitoring the situation and asking the necessary questions.