Philippine Airlines (PAL) registered the highest on-time performance (OTP) among domestic carriers for flight departures out of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) as of October 2019.
PAL’s mainline services achieved an all-time high of 92% on-time flights in October 2019 for international and domestic flights combined, the airline said in a statement.
For July, August and September 2019, the flag carrier’s flights posted a steadily increasing OTP of 80%, 82% and 89%, respectively. In all months, PAL performed seven percentage points higher than its closest competitors.
Over the entire year, month by month, PAL said it consistently maintained a lead of five to 15 percentage points in on-time departures from the Manila hub, including flights operated by sister airline PAL Express (PALEx).
PAL said the surge in its OTP since July is the result of concerted initiatives by PAL and PALEx network and operations teams to achieve more efficient aircraft movement and schedule management, pre-flight passenger and ground handling processes, and post-flight evaluation designed to refine and improve all action steps. It is also the result of closer coordination with airport and aviation authorities.
PAL’s 90.90% September OTP ranking for its London departures also placed the carrier among the top 10 carriers in overall performance at London Heathrow.
Together with other Philippine carriers, PAL signed a pledge of commitment in late July to improve on-time performance by managing flight operations and using airport slots effectively. Signatories committed to accept accountability for causes of flight delays and cancellations within their control and support development of mechanisms of discipline for the entire industry.
While many delays are the result of airport infrastructure constraints beyond the control of airlines, PAL said the combined efforts of authorities and airlines were instrumental in significantly improving reliability of airline operations at NAIA. PAL operates the largest international airline hub at the NAIA complex, with flights out of NAIA Terminals 1, 2 and 3.