Kenya Airways ranked among the bottom 10 airlines globally for punctuality in July, the world’s busiest month for air travel.

This is a sharp contrast to its low-cost subsidiary Jambojet, which was among the best 10, potentially adding pressure on the national carrier as it seeks to improve its competitiveness.

KQ ranked 135th out of 143 carriers that made at least 1,500 flights in July, having completed only 58.73 percent of its 2,925 flights on time, with a cancellation rate of 0.41 percent, according to rankings by OAG, a global air travel data provider.

In the same month, Jambojet achieved an on-time performance of 86.54 percent on its 1,795 flights, making it the 10th best performer globally and the second in Africa, after South African budget carrier FlySafair, which completed 89.29 percent of its flights on time.

On-time performance (OTP) is the percentage of flights completed by an airline on time over a given period. In the aviation industry, an airline departure or arrival that happens within 15 minutes of the scheduled time is considered on-time.

KQ attributed its poor performance in the peak period to operational challenges due to limited capacity and ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which has caused many of its flights to reroute.

“Restrictions and evolving risk assessments around affected airspace have required airlines operating between Africa, Europe and North America to adjust established flight paths, with some services taking longer and more circuitous routings to maintain safe operating margins,” said Tom Ogendo, head of KQ’s Integrated Operations Control Centre.

“For Kenya Airways, these changes can have a network-wide effect. Longer sectors increase aircraft utilisation, fuel requirements and crew-duty pressures, while reducing the recovery time available between rotations. On a tightly scheduled network, even a delay on an inbound long-haul service can therefore cascade into subsequent departures from Nairobi.”

The poor performance by KQ also came amid capacity constraints due to prolonged grounding of some of the largest planes on its fleet, resulting from a global shortage in airline parts.

Currently, and for much of July, two of its Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners and two 737-800 planes were grounded for maintenance. This has been going on since last year, with its planes undergoing routine maintenance amidst a global shortage of aircraft parts.

Despite its poor performance, KQ beat its arch-rival on the continent, Ethiopian Airlines, in punctuality. In the same month, ET ranked 140th, with a performance of 52.78 percent and a total of 15,358.

Other African airlines that made the ranking during the period include Tunisia’s Nouvelair, which ranked 90th globally with an OTP of 69.99 percent, and South African Airways, which completed 85.24 percent of its 2,156 flights on time.

Jambojet, which emerged as the fifth most punctual among budget carriers, has recorded rising OTP over the years and has displaced established carriers like KQ, ET, and SAA, among others. Last year, the carrier recorded an OTP of 79.6 percent, performing below SAA’s 81.26 percent.

KQ says it is already implementing measures to improve its punctuality, starting with restoring its grounded fleet to expand capacity.

“Restoring aircraft affected by engine and maintenance constraints is a key priority, while stronger relationships with manufacturers, maintenance providers and suppliers are intended to improve access to engines, spare parts and technical support,” said Mr Ogendo.

→ vogweno@ke.nationmedia.com

Follow our WhatsApp channel for the latest business and markets updates.