ABSTRACT
Despite many efforts to achieve better on-time performance through introduction of costly schedule buffers, fleet renewals, spare aircraft and crew resources, most airlines are still faced with growing disruption problems. Expansion strategies of traditional network carriers to already overcrowded airports and air space are surely among the factors that are diminishing these efforts. AEA reported that 2007 was the fourth successive year with deteriorating punctuality on intra-European flights, adding that figures for June and July, at 29.7 per cent and 28.3 per cent respectively, were the highest individual monthly figures since summer 2000. In the US, 2007 was the year of the industry’s second poorest delay performance on record, and analysts say it is likely to get worse. The magnitude of decline in punctuality is shown in Figure 3.1.
