On-time performance better,but airlines fear revenue loss

“When we filed the winter schedule recently after accounting for additional turnaround time to accommodate the new push-back deadline,we realised that our aircraft utilisation had actually come down by 10 per cent,” a GoAir spokesperson said.

They claimed that the airlines would be forced to extend their turnaround time by another 10 minutes for every flight it makes on a day when asked to push back 15 minutes in advance. “If an aircraft does an average of 7.6 flights a day,the loss per aircraft will be at least 70 minutes,” the GoAir spokesperson said.

They said this would bring down the number of departures an aircraft could make by at least one and losing revenue on one flight a day for a year had enormous financial implications. The airlines have also been asked to take off on time or lose their departure slots,which is essential to cut through the massive flight delays at a severely-congested airport like Mumbai. A push-back clearance is sought when the aircraft has closed its doors and is ready to start. Aircraft,which rarely use reverse thrust,have to be ‘pushed back’ from the parking bay by tractors.

The airlines will have to approach the ATC again for a fresh departure slot when they fail to meet this deadline,which could delay the flight by at least two hours,especially during the peak hours. This was the case on the first day of the implementation of the circular on July 19,when 90 flights got revised departure slots resulting in delay of 15 flights by 1.5 hours.

“The on-time performance has improved because all airlines have closed their check-in counters 45 minutes before departure time,not necessarily because flights have to apply for pushback 15 minutes before departure,” Sridharan said. The airlines are seeking a relaxation in the push-back deadline from 15 minutes to five minutes prior to departure. “The airlines are with the ATC on the pushback deadline discipline; the problem is the hard coding of 15 minutes before departure.”