SriLankan Airlines is consistently achieving a level of punctuality that is measuring up to the highest standards in the international aviation industry, the result of a strategy aimed at identifying and eliminating causes for delays.

The Airline began concentrating on improving its punctuality with the formation of a Punctuality Improvement Committee (PIC) in August 1999 and has since seen a steady improvement. The PIC meets daily at noon to investigate the causes of any delays, perusing reports of all officials who handled each flight and pinpointing the cause of the delays at any International Airport to which SriLankan flies.

“This year, SriLankan has been consistently averaging nearly 90% punctuality in flights departing within 15 minutes of their scheduled times” said Sampath Perera, Manager PIC, Recruitment & Emergency Response Planning. “This is an excellent standard for any airline, especially when one considers that SriLankan has been expanding its route network rapidly, flying more aircraft more frequently to more destinations.”

The PIC discusses delays on flights during the 24 hours preceding its daily meeting, ensuring that there is no lapse in time between the delay and the investigation. Once the cause of a delay is pinpointed, preventive measures are discussed, focusing on how to prevent a recurrence. If the PIC is not satisfied with the reports it has received, further information is called for from relevant officials. The PIC, which is chaired by the Airline’s Chief Technical Officer, comprises of representatives from all operational areas of the Airline, including any department that could cause a delay such as Flight Operations, In-flight Service, Engineering & Maintenance, SriLankan Catering, SriLankan Cargo, Airport Service, Security and Schedules Planning.

“The PIC’s task is to find the cause of a delay and recommend action that will ensure that the cause of a delay does not recur,” said Perera. “We focus on preventive action, and our recommendations are circulated among all departments which need to institute changes in order to prevent delays.”

The PIC tracks each aircraft in the fleet to ensure that none of them has any recurring technical problems and also tracks the number of delays at each overseas station to ensure that no station is performing below expectations.

The introduction of a modern all-Airbus fleet in order to retire the ageing Lockheed Tristars immensely helped to improve punctuality levels. The fleet now comprises five A340s, four A330s and three A320s. The Airline also recently took delivery of an amphibious Cessna Caravan floatplane to start domestic Air Taxi services to tourist locations within Sri Lanka. A second Antonov AN12 freighter was also added to the fleet. The two AN12s operate a regional freighter service to the Maldives, South India and Thailand.


Media Relations Section
Corporate Communications Department
SriLankan Airlines Limited