IndiGo had on-time performance (OTP) as one of its branding strategies, but the biggest local deal has now been beaten by a resurgent Tata Group-owned Air India, which identified OTP as a primary improvement target.

For the past three months, Air India has consistently beaten IndiGo in the punctuality pecking order.

Concerned about this, IndiGo’s management has made some drastic changes to flight management to improve on-time performance. In a significant departure from existing protocol, the airline has asked its cabin crew to close the aircraft doors as soon as the last passenger is on board and even before the last passenger has settled in, an operations circular reviewed by ET said.

“After being informed that the last passenger is on board, the cabin door is closed within 60 seconds. The passenger may still be in the process of settling into the cabin,” the circular said.

At the same time, the airline has asked its pilots to reach the airports 75 minutes before the scheduled departure of their flights and be on the plane 35 minutes before so that all procedures can be completed at least 15 minutes before the scheduled take-off.

“One of the measures to improve punctuality is to ensure that doors are closed 15 minutes before departure for all departures,” read an instruction to pilots sent out last week.

People aware of the development said the airline is also rapidly hiring ground staff it laid off during the pandemic.

“Critical flights with delayed turnarounds can have a cascading effect, as with connecting flights. They have been identified to give them a faster turnaround time,” said one of the people cited above.

Experts said that with IndiGo operating 1,600 flights per day, multi-terminal operations at major airports such as Delhi and Mumbai are the main reasons for the drop in OTP.

“The airline operates at all terminals in Delhi and Mumbai, which makes it difficult to exchange equipment. Sharing of ground equipment and personnel, as well as an increase in connecting passengers, is putting additional strain on resources,” said Ameya Joshi, founder of aviation blog Network Thoughts. “The bundling of flights and the lack of airport infrastructure also add to the challenge.”

IndiGo did not respond to ET’s inquiries.

Air India has assembled a cross-functional team with staff from different departments such as Network Planning, Engineering, Ground Services and Integrated Operations Control Center (IOCC) to comprehensively assess the upcoming winter season flight schedule.

“We have invested in IT systems to improve the possibilities for predictive maintenance of aircraft. We want to ensure the right systems are in place to monitor aircraft turnaround times. There is no silver bullet. We need to make sure all systems are working perfectly,” said Air India CEO Campbell Wilson.

The Tata Group airline has also introduced a nightly pre-planning meeting to enable the airline to pre-emptively identify risks and work with key stakeholders to develop solutions to ensure a high OTP.