Flight delays among carriers further decline in October

MANILA, Philippines — Flight delays at the country’s main international gateways are on the decline as on-time performance (OTP) of local carriers continues to improve.

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) said Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Cebu Pacific have continued to register higher flight OTP month-on-month, with the flag carrier posting an all-time high OTP rating of 92 percent in October.

PAL’s OTP rating has seen a monthly improvement from 80 percent in July, to 82 percent and 89 percent in August and September, respectively.

“This achievement was made possible because the DOTr, MIAA and CAAP acted with determination to build rapid exit taxiways at NAIA, enhance air navigation systems, renovate runways and taxiways, improve the coordination of airport slots and take other initiatives to promote a more efficient Philippine aviation industry,” PAL senior vice president for airline operations Stanley Ng said.

Meanwhile, Cebu Pacific, the country’s largest budget carrier, posted an OTP of 84.71 percent for its October flights, up from 80.66 percent in September.

“The improved OTP is a result of the close cooperation and coordination with concerned government agencies to minimize delays across our network. The industry is also better coordinated so that when there are weather disruptions, such as lightning alerts that close the airfield, we are able to minimize the impact,“ Cebu Pacific chief operations officer Michael Ivan Shau said.

Overall, the combined OTP of Philippine air carriers has increased to 78 percent in the July to September period from the 65 percent in the first quarter and 62 percent in the second quarter, according to the Air Carriers’ Association of the Philippines (ACAP).

ACAP is composed of Philippine-based carriers Cebu Pacific, Cebgo, Philippine Airlines, PAL Express and Air Asia Philippines.

“We congratulate the DOTr and the aviation authorities for pro-actively translating the President’s Build Build Build directive into simultaneous action over the past two years, thus allowing airlines to operate more efficiently and register positive improvements in on-time performance,” PAL president Gilbert Santa Maria said.

“As a result of these actions, combined with the efforts of airlines to improve fleet management and turn around aircraft more efficiently, departure delays at the NAIA have seen significant reductions. This makes air travel more convenient and stress-free for the traveling public, and in particular for our PAL passengers because PAL operates the largest international airline hub at the NAIA,” Santa Maria said.

OTP, which is one of the measures of aviation and airport efficiency, is the adherence to published flight schedules by an airline.

It indicates the percentage of flight departures and arrivals that take place within 15 minutes from schedule, including cancellations.

Last June, ACAP-member airlines pledged to work with the government to help decongest the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) through improved on-time flight performance, support the development of other gateways including Sangley Airport in Cavite, and improve the travel experience of air passengers.

The carriers, for their part, implemented process improvements aimed at improving their respective OTPs such as stricter adherence to gate closure and door closure times, deployment of stand-by flight deck crews at the airport to reduce response time to unexpected situations, and adoption of new technologies to better monitor operations in real time.