There’s an easy joke to make on Indians and punctuality, but in 2016, two local airlines broke the stereotype.
Jet Airways and IndiGo made it to the top 10 in the Asia-Pacific region in FlightStats’ 2016 ranking of airlines by on-time performance. For its 8th annual On-Time Performance Service Awards, the website looked into flight status and arrival data obtained from civil aviation authorities, airports, and airlines around the world.
Jet Airways, ranked number seven, recorded on-time arrivals for 76.12% of its completed flights in 2016, beating regional giant Cathay Pacific, ranked at number eight. Low-cost airline IndiGo was at number 10 with on-time arrivals for 74.22% of its flights. The report defined being on-time as arriving within 15 minutes of the scheduled arrival time.
Here’s the list of the top performers in the region:
Air India, however, did not fare well. India’s beleaguered national carrier was ranked third on the flight data website’s list of the world’s worst-performing international airlines, behind Icelandair and Israel’s El Al. There was a 38.71% likelihood of Air India flights being delayed, according to Bloomberg.
But that’s a charge Air India vehemently denies. The company spokesperson went as far as calling the report “fabricated,” adding that Air India plans to investigate the results.