Airline rankings: PIA near the bottom

While in Pakistan, the role of airlines in spurring economic growth is unfortunately negative, aviation industry accounts for over three percent of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP). Airlines play a key role in economic development and in supporting long-term economic growth. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) highlights that the aviation sector facilitates a country’s integration into the global economy; providing direct benefits for users and wider economic benefits through its positive impact on productivity and economic performance.

Recently, a global body AirHelp announced its worldwide airlines rankings for 2017, which placed Pakistan International Airline (PIA) at 80th spot out of 87- not a surprise. AirHelp ranks and scores are based on three key criteria for a cross-country comparison. These three are the quality of amenities, on-time arrivals, and how well they resolve flight delay compensation claims.

Comparing PIA to some of the peer airlines in the rankings show that while the airline itself has seen a positive change in its ranking for 2017 versus that of 2016, it lags behind severely in claim processing category. This category rating takes into account how efficiently and fairly a carrier handles delay compensation claims, including percentage of claims rejected, as well as turnaround times for processing and payout. One can see this difference in the illustration.

Along the other two factors, it is interesting to find that the quality of service of PIA is not any different from the airline in India or China – the region seems to be consistent on that. AirHelp explains this rating that factors in hundreds of metrics and details to give a measure of an airline’s quality, both on the ground and in the air.

Even more surprising is that PIA largely exceeds in on-time processing when compared to India and China. This metric determines how likely the airlines are to arrive on time on a year-on-year analysis.

However, this by stretch doesn’t not mean that PIA will not be negatively perceived in the country. Yes, the airline is running, but it is inflicted with too many problems talked about many times everywhere. Airlines should generally strive to provide a superior level of service, both in the air and on the ground. They should also be consistently punctual, and should treat its customers well in adverse situations. PIA seems to be too far behind; will it catch up with the world leading airline seems close to impossible with how things proceed as of now.