As one year comes to a close and another begins, we’re often inundated with year-end countdowns and recaps. While some of these lists may be whimsical and merely for fun, others can provide valuable insight into what took place over the last 12 months.
The latter applies to the OAG’s 2016 Punctuality League, which ranks on-time performance (OTP) for airlines and airports throughout the world.
Defining OTP as “a flight that arrives or departs within 14 minutes and 49 seconds of its scheduled arrival/departure time,” Hawaiian Airlines ranked No. 1 among all airlines.
Breaking things down further, Monarch Airlines was chief among low cost carriers while Qantas Airways (Asia Pacific), KLM (Europe, Middle East and Africa), Sky Airline (Latin America) and Hawaiian Airlines (North America) claimed the top spots in their regions.
Newcastle (NCL), Birmingham (BHX), Surabaya (SUB) and Tokyo Haneda (HND) airports earned top positions in the small, medium, large and major airport categories, respectively.
While highlighting the airports and airlines that had the most successful OTP and attracting well-deserved attention to the top performers, OAG’s report also can be used to identify those that need improvement. Those operations can use this opportunity to set a New Year’s Resolution, of sorts.
Pinpointing what makes other operations successful, and implementing ways to match that success – or better yet, exceed it – is the logical first step to improve on-time departures for an airline or airport.
Among many other factors, ground support plays a critical role in a quick turn-around.
Take a critical look at your station, the airline you work for or the ground service you provide, and consider how operations can be enhanced.
Can ground service providers streamline their practices in order to make work flow more efficient?
Is the ground support equipment outdated, in need of repair or due for an upgrade?
What individual ground support factors can be addressed to improve on-time departures?
Seek out answers to these questions, find ways to better your operation and drive competition within the industry.
