AI third worst in keeping schedule

Air India has been ranked the third worst performing airline in the world, in terms of keeping the schedule, according to an aviation insights company FlightStats. According to the ranking, EL AL has the worst on-time performance, as FlightStats says the chances of delay is 56%. Icelandair is second with 41.05% and Air India stands at 38.71%.

However, Air India has disagreed with the report, saying it “seems fabricated”. The KLM Dutch Royal Airlines is ranked the best, with only 11.47% chances for a delay followed by Iberia 11.82%, JAL 12.2% and Qatar Airways 13.66%. FlightStats Vice President (Aviation and Distribution) Jim Hetzel said, “Compiling the list is no small feat.”

According to him, the only comparable resource is the monthly report that the US Department of Transportation puts out on major domestic carriers, relying uniquely on self-reported data from the biggest carriers in the US; it doesn’t factor in any of those airlines’ international flights.

“We stitch data together from 500 different sources, including flight-tracking and positional services, airport runway times, radar services, airline records and airport data among others,” said Hetzel. “All of these pieces come in in different formats, all with different elements of value, and a lot of times the sources don’t agree,” he said. He said he was seeing a big improvement in overall performance across the board as the industry becomes more and more competitive.