Lion Air Claims to Have Improved OTP despite Frequent Delays

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Lion Air's Corporate Communications Strategic officer Danang Mandala admitted there were still frequent delays besetting the low-cost carrier, which according to him was attributable to the high frequency of Lion Air's flights.

Despite the delays, Lion Air’s on-time performance (OTP) has improved slightly compared to those of the previous years. The carrier’s OTP report from its Integrated Operation Control Center (IOCC) showed that the first quarter saw an average OTP of 85.73 percent from 12,300 flights.

The carrier’s on-time performance this year has been at the highest in its history compared to the 65.3 percent in 2018 and 64.4 percent in 2017 during the same period.

 “Lion Air's flight frequency is currently 500 daily flights,” said Danang at the Transportation Ministry building in Central Jakarta on Thursday, August 8.

Despite the improvement, Lion Air Group still lagged behind its competitor, Garuda Indonesia Group, which according to the independent flight ranker OAG Flightview scored an OTP over 96 percent.

Danang argued that the average score was because of the tight flight rotation schedule from one airport to another, added with the risk of one of its planes experiencing trouble that would create a domino effect on Lion Air’s remaining flights.

FRANCISCA CHRISTY ROSANA