On Time Performance

[rumair999]

So who is having a good summer and who is having a bad summer to date - time wise
My guess is MyTravel performing very well at all bases -

any views?

[OltonPete]

They have seemed to have had one of their better summers at BHX.

A 321 is subbed in mid-week on a fairly regular basis but having
suffered as SLF in the past with LITE (RIP) it is good to see
things working out better for them.

I still believe that BHX could fill 321's from BHX ;)

Pete

[rumair999]

Agree Pete great to see such a great airline performing well - any views on the worse to date

[Localiser Green]

CAA data for April and May 2006 has the following OTP order:

1. MyTravel (84.27%)
2. Thomsonfly (77.15%)
3. First Choice (70.87%)
4. Thomas Cook (69.38%)
5. Astraeus (60.96%)
6. Monarch (59.31%)
7. Excel (57.81%)
8. Flyjet (55.92%)

Data up to June will be published on http://www.flightontime.info from next month, then each month until the final season results in January '07.

[FlyZB]

Hi all.

This may seem like a bit of a strange topic and apologies if i'm posting in the wrong place. But it's something that i've been considering for a while now and I was wondering if anyone could add their own opinions.

Looking at the statistics for UK Charter Airlines, MyTravel has come top for On Time Performance (OTP) almost every single month for the past year and furthermore it has been a long way ahead of the airline in second place. Now, as a current employee of MYT and also with it being a North West based company, I am extremely pleased that it has recovered from its darker days and is now operating a very punctual airline.

However, what I have noticed is that MYT assigns much longer flight times to its routes than any other airline. This is resulting in many flights arriving back into the UK well ahead of schedule, some flights are arriving an hour earlier than the scheduled arrival time. An example of this is on a Wednesday morning on the MAN - FUE route. Both MYT and TCX have flights departing at 07.00. The TCX flight is scheduled to arrive back into MAN at 16.20, whereas the MYT flight is due to arrive at 17.10, some 50 minutes later. Now I know that aircraft type and air traffic slots can play a part in the actual flight time that an airline assigns, but it is the case on almost every route that MYT assigns longer flying times than its competitors.

Now in many ways, this is good for the airline. It means that if they suffer a delay to the departure of the flight, it can still arrive on time or earlier than the STA at its destination.

My questions is though, MYT are well ahead of its competitors in terms of on time performance. Is flying time taken into account when considering OTP and if not surely MYT are 'cheating' in some way in order to stay ahead of other airlines such as TCX, FCA, TOM etc. And how can airlines compete against each other in the OTP stakes when certain airlines assign ridiculously long flying times to their routes?

[esvdx]

I believe OTP performance figures you quote are only based on the departure time (off-blocks) from the UK airport and not related to the time the aircraft leaves downroute, or returns back to the UK.

The only impact the longer planned flight times would have is create more 'buffer' for turnarounds back in the UK should the flight get back early. This might ensure any maintenance etc.. can be completed before the aircraft goes out again.
esvdx

[Localiser Green]

it is the case on almost every route that MYT assigns longer flying times than its competitors.

I believe MYT use the 85th percentile of actual block operating times when assigning their scheduled block times for flights.

So if 85% of MAN-FUE flights operated in less than 04:40 (hence 15% took longer) then 04:40 is the scheduled time allocated to the flight (subject to slot allowances).

Other airlines may typically use a lower threshold when deciding on scheduled times.

I believe OTP performance figures you quote are only based on the departure time (off-blocks) from the UK airport and not related to the time the aircraft leaves downroute, or returns back to the UK

CAA OTP figures (used in CAA and flightontime.info statistics) record both departure from and arrival at UK airports, so flights are analysed both on outbound departure and return arrival. Also, the times are usually based on actual airborne and landing times (with taxy time allowance accounted for), rather than block times.