There were exceptional, unavoidable delays in this quarter, caused by the major security alert at British airports on 10 August. However, figures for the first and second quarters of 2006 were also down on their respective periods the year before. In April-June, 20.2 percent of all flights were late, up from 18.1 percent in 2005 and 16.6 percent in 2003. During that second quarter, Madrid was the worst-performing major airport (28.7 percent), but Paris Charles de Gaulle, London Heathrow, London Gatwick and Barcelona were all above 25 percent as well.
The AEA only gathers figures for traditional airlines. However, even the low-cost carriers, which rely on rapid unloading and loading of passengers to squeeze in more flights per day, are suffering. Ryanair saw 83 percent of its flights arrive within 15 minutes of schedule in October. This is a good figure compared with mainstream competitors, but it is still down from the 91 percent achieved in October 2005. Since every extra minute an aircraft waits on the ground costs its airline approximately €50, Ryanair is unhappy.
The U.S. is suffering too. Its airlines’ second-quarter delay rate was 23.5 percent, up from 19.2 percent. Quarter three was 24.8 percent, down from 23.9 percent.
The increase in delays comes in spite of reforms that have aided punctuality in recent years. The European Union has made progress in improving the co-ordination of air traffic control across Europe. Airlines, meanwhile, have made a determined effort to board passengers more efficiently, including turning away passengers who arrive late at the gate.
However, balanced against this are even more powerful factors. The simplest of these is that Europe’s skies have become much busier. According to the flight schedule publisher OAG, the number of departures to and from European airports shot up 30 percent between October 2001 and October 2006, rising nine per cent over October 2005 alone.
The AEA says that airports and air traffic control authorities have failed to expand their capacity to keep up with growth, leading to more crowding in the skies and on the ground.
There is some way to go before equaling the worst second quarter for delayed flights – 35 percent in 1999 – but travelers and their travel managers may want to think about how they can react to the situation.
The following tips from BCD Travel can help you minimize delays and the impact they have on your travel plans:
- On routes with heavy frequencies, take the departure before the one that arrives just in time for your meeting. If you have a morning meeting, fly the night before.
- Avoid morning and evening peaks, when air traffic is heaviest.
- If your policy allows it, fully flexible tickets are better because they can be transferred to another carrier. However, they are generally much more expensive.
- Keep abreast of flight changes via Internet – major airports usually provide flight status information on their Web sites. http://www.airlinequality.com/Airports/AirportA-Z.htm is a handy list of major airport sites.
- Try to arrive at the airport early so you can change plans if necessary.
- Avoid indirect journeys - doubling the number of flights means doubling the opportunities for delay.
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Be
responsible - turn up at the gate in
good time and keep carry-on
luggage within prescribed
limits.