The two struggling domestic airlines – Air India and Jet Airways - paid a hefty amount every month as a compensation for flight cancellations, delays etc. These expenses include refunds to passengers, rebooking on other flights, refreshments and hotel accommodation as and when required.

The two domestic carriers have spent Rs 26.6 crore so far in the year (January-August 2018) as compensation, according to Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) data.

The state-owned Air India paid as much as Rs 8.4 crore, which translates into Rs 1.05 crore per month, while Jet Airways paid Rs 14.55 crore in all, as compensation, or Rs 1.82 crore per month on an average.

Out of this, Rs 10.75 crore was paid in February alone for compensating 2,656 passengers for denying boarding, if we exclude this, Jet Airways spent around Rs 0.6 crore per month, on an average as compensation during January-August 2018.

Both Air India and Jet Airways have a very poor track record in terms of on-time performance of their flights and feature at the bottom of the list as compared to other scheduled domestic airlines.

Air India has an average on-time performance rate of 71.3 percent (during January-August 2018), while Jet Airways recorded an on-time performance rate of 74.5 percent, the DGCA data reveals. The on-time performance rate measures the number of flights that took off and landed on time.

In all, 3.5 lakh passenger got affected with flight cancellations, delays or were denied boarding by Air India. For Jet Airways, the number stands at 37,519 during the same period.

Both Air India and Jet Airways are struggling to stem losses in the world's fastest-growing domestic aviation market. Air India, has already asked for a bailout package of Rs 2,121 crore from the government. The government of India has so far made two attempts to find a buyer for the ailing airlines, but failed to find any takers.

"Discussions on a bailout package for embattled state-run carrier Air India are at an "advanced stage", minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha told media on Wednesday, without giving further details.

Air India reported a net loss of Rs 5,765 during 2016-17 and has projected a net loss of Rs 3,579 crore for 2017-18. Air India's net loss for 2017-18 at Rs 3,579 crore. Air India has a total debt of Rs 48,877 crore on its books as of March 31, 2017.

Jet Airways reported a net loss of Rs 1,323 crore in the June ending quarter of 2018. Its net losses for the financial year 2017-18 stands at Rs 725 crore.

First Published:Sept 26, 2018 4:49 PM IST