In a departure from the usual scenario of Indigo Airlines topping the on-time charts, SpiceJet sent out a statement that it has emerged as the airline with the highest on-time performance in February according to official figures.
In addition, SpiceJet said it was overhauling its flight schedules from the end of this month. SpiceJet is India’s second largest low fare airline. The airline currently operates more than 350 daily flights to 51 destinations, which includes 42 Indian cities and 9 international destinations.
“With an OTP score of 79.9% across the Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad, SpiceJet was ranked #1 in on-time performance,” the airline said.
It must be remembered that February had seen a huge number of delays due to fog in North India.
“Being #1 on-time is the result of constant focus of all departments across the company on on-time performance, where every delay, even if only for one minute, is tracked, and root causes investigated and reported internally” said Mr Sanjiv Kapoor, Chief Operating Officer (COO), SpiceJet Ltd said in a statement.
SpiceJet, owned by the Sun TV Group, has been recently trying to win more passengers by offering cheaper fares.
SpiceJet is also introducing an all new network and schedule effective March 30, which will meet the needs of different customer segments better with new fights and better flight timings, while significantly improving overall operational efficiency, it said.
It said passengers impacted by the changed are being contacted by SpiceJet and SpiceJet is taking every possible measure to minimize any possible disruption that may be caused by the schedule and timing changes.
“In the vast majority of the cases, we expect our customers will actually prefer the new flights and timings being offered to them”, said Dr Anurag Jain, Sr VP and Head of Network Planning and Strategy at SpiceJet.
“The new flights and timings are designed to better meet the needs of majority of our customers, and have been introduced after exhaustive analysis to maximize customer benefit as well as optimize operational efficiency”, he added.
SpiceJet also recently announced a slew of new products, including SpiceMAX priority seating and handling and the Corporate Frequent Flyer offer.
SpiceJet connects its network using next generation fleet of 42 Boeing 737-800/ 900ER aircrafts, along with 15 Bombardier Q-400 aircraft that are focused on Tier II and Tier III cities. SpiceJet also earlier this week at the Hyderabad airshow announced the order of 42 Boeing 737-8MAX aircraft, the most advanced version of the reliable and trusted Boeing 737 aircraft.