Air India contests report on its OTP

Air India on Tuesday contested the report on airlines on time performance (OTP) published by a flight tracking and mentoring services provider Flightstats, in which the Government-run carrier was rated as the third worst performer.

Air India, in a strongly worded letter to Flightstats, said that the data presented in the report also leads one to "speculate" of the "intentions" behind the entire exercise.

"Air India strongly contest the data shared and veracity of the report... Air India will take a strong action and leave no stone unturned to ascertain and bring to light any biased or malicious intent to spoil Air India's image," the airline said in the letter.

Flightstats yesterday had ranked Air India as the third worst performing airline at the 8th Annual Airline OTP Service Awards after Israeli carrier El Al and Iceland-based Icelandair.

Noting that the airline has maintained a "good record" in the last two years, having delivered an OTP of over 78 per cent both on its domestic and international network, it said, the OTP of Air India ranks at par with its competitors in the domestic sector notwithstanding the airport infrastructure constraints at several places.

Air India is a network carrier, operating from 69 airports across the country and 41 international destinations.

"On international sectors too, Air India's OTP can no way be termed poor going by the sheer volumes of its operations to most international airports," it said.

Stating that the data published in its report was based on "unconfirmed" information and directed at "misleading" the customers and audience at large, the letter said, "it clearly targets Air India and its image." 

"The way the report has been compiled and projected, it would make one believe that some vested interests might have been at to tarnish the image of the national carrier of India, which has been performing well in recent times,” Air India said.