P Chidambaram Questions Aviation Authority Over ‘Un-punctuality’ Of Airlines

Former Union Minister and Congress leader, P Chidambaram, took to social media to express his concerns about the deteriorating punctuality in the Indian airline industry. Writing on X (formerly Twitter), he highlighted the industry”s shift to a two-horse race and its impact on punctuality.

Chidambaram questioned the airlines” attribution of delays to weather conditions, asserting that the situation was consistent even before the onset of winter. He pointed out that while the weather in Delhi might be challenging for humans, it shouldn”t impede aircraft operations.

Expressing skepticism about the oversight of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on flight punctuality, Chidambaram wondered about the efficacy of the regulatory body. He suggested that statistics on on-time departures and arrivals, currently under DGCA scrutiny, should undergo auditing by an independent agency to ensure transparency.

Citing the inconvenience caused by delays, Chidambaram highlighted that the average passenger now spends more than three hours at departure terminals due to un-punctuality in the airline schedules.

P Chidambaram’s full post:

“Since the airline industry became a two-horse race, punctuality has suffered severely.

The airlines blame the weather but the situation was the same before the advent of winter.

The weather in Delhi is bad for humans to breathe not for aircraft to fly.

I wonder what kind of oversight DGCA has on punctuality of flights.

The statistics on on-time departure and arrival are suspect. They should be audited by an independent agency not by DGCA which has a cosy relationship with the airlines.

Thanks to un-punctuality, an average passenger is required to spend more than 3 hours at the departure terminal.”