Chinese airlines troubled by their poor punctuality will be forced to reduce flight and operating times. A request will be made by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) that airlines with a flight delay occurrence rate that is higher than the average, reduce the number of flights and also shorten their operating time.
The issue of reducing flight delays in Xiamen, Fujian province was discussed at a conference on May 22, 2013, by Xia Xinghua, deputy director of the administration. The airlines have also been urged by the CAAC to reduce the number of delays that can be avoided by ten percent by the end of 2013. Airports have to be strict enough to maintain that at least 90 percent of their flights leave on time, or they will not be allowed to expand their operations.
After the conference, a statement was released saying that the CAAC has taken ample measures to improve the punctuality, but it is still far from meeting the public’s expectations. Several efforts were made in 2012 in order to improve on-time performance of the Chinese airlines, but it was in vain. A report mentioned that about 38.5 percent of flights were delayed in 2012 due to airlines, giving no reason for the delay.
