Jens Flottau/FRANKFURT
Lufthansa has launched an extensive internal programme to improve its punctuality, but says that 44% of its delays are air traffic control-related and thus beyond its reach.
Lufthansa has been suffering a 25% increase in delays during the 1999 high season compared with last year. In July, only about 60 percent of Lufthansa's international flights were on time.
The airline says that 13% of all its delays are company caused, while 44% are ATC-related, and that the latter accounts for 26,000t of fuel burned unnecessarily in German skies.
Dissatisfaction with air traffic services (ATS) is not confined to Europe. US major United Airlines says that ATC delays, which the airline attributes to the Federal Aviation Administration's failure to provide adequate ATS, are costing it $20 million a month.
The Lufthansa punctuality programme will cost almost DM100 million ($53million). Measures include keeping three aircraft - an Airbus A310, an A320 and a Boeing 737 - as a back-up fleet at its hubs in Frankfurt and Munich.
The airline is also stretching ground times where turnarounds have been shown to be critical, wants its suppliers to plan better routine procedures, and has hired close to 100 additional staff to ensure quicker passenger check-in.
The carrier confirms that it is looking at increasing automated check-in and is encouraging its employees not to check in late arriving passengers if that could lead to flight delays.
Source: Flight International
