Coming under constant criticism for being late in takeoffs and landings amid heightened competition from Tata Group airlines, IndiGo, India’s biggest airline, regained the top position in the on-time performance (OTP) ranking in November though its market share was the worst since May.
At least 92.5% of IndiGo’s flights were on time in Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai, according to data shared by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). This is the best OTP clocked by the airline since March this year when it had clocked 93.9%. Tata Group airlines – Air India, Vistara and AirAsia – which had clinched the top three spots in October, shifted one position down in that order.
IndiGo’s improvement in OTP comes at a time when the Tata Group is working towards consolidating its four airlines while committing themselves to improving services overall in line with its target of achieving 30% market share in the next few years. The brand run by InterGlobe Aviation, which has the largest fleet, has been facing issues with its aircraft engines leading to grounding of several of its planes.
IndiGo lost market share in November by 100 basis points to close the month at the worst level since May. Its share was chipped away by Vistara, Go First, SpiceJet and Akasa.
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While Go First improved its market share slightly, its OTP was the worst amongst all airlines at just 35.9% during November. This was the second month in a row where the Wadia Group airline found itself at the bottom of the OTP ranking.
The struggle of the Mumbai-based airline has multiplied over the past weeks following the grounding of half of its fleet leading to several instances of passengers highlighting their views on social media.
Another low-cost carrier SpiceJet closed November with just 56.8% OTP, slipping even below state-owned Alliance Air which has repeatedly found itself at the bottom of the OTP table.
In all, domestic carriers flew 11.6 million passengers in November, an increase of 11% compared to the 10.5 million recorded in the same month last year.
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Suprio Banerjee, Vice President & Sector Head – Corporate Ratings, Icra, “The airlines’ capacity deployment in November was slightly higher than in November 2021. However, it was lower by about 12% than the pre-Covid levels. The delay in delivery of components and spares for aircraft and engines continues to impact the sector, thereby leading to the grounding of certain aircraft for some domestic airlines.”
Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, President and Chief Operating Officer, IndiGo said, “We are pleased to return to the top of on-time performance operations. Despite numerous challenges, the team at IndiGo has devised and successfully executed its plan to ensure the passenger experience, consistency and operational efficiency that IndiGo is renowned for.”
