India Flying

Akanksha Maker compiles some of the big developments in Indian aviation over the past two years

While writing this article in November 2017, I had completed a year of heavy domestic and international travel. This included flying out of a few tier II towns (Porbander, Lucknow and Guwahati) and some tier I cities (Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru), where I observed a few evident changing trends such as airlines’ on-time performances, easy connectivity and increased security at airports.

The improved on-time performances by airlines could be on the basis of the new rule that was imposed by the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) back in September 2016. According to the new regulation, if the flight fails to takeoff within five minutes of getting a green signal from the airtraffic control, it will have to be pushed to the back of the queue where it will have to wait until the next available time slot for takeoff.

Earlier, if the flight scheduled to takeoff didn’t do so on time, it in turn delayed others in the queue behind it too. With the new order, those organised for a timely takeoff as per procedures aren’t inconvenienced any further as defaulters are pushed back endlessly. Hence, Indian airlines now make a conscious effort to avoid a tardy performance on the runway, which would in turn garner a poor track record and reduced priority for sought-after slots during peak hours.