Datanomics: Air India crash shows no clear trend in passenger worries

Air India had the passenger load factor of 88.6 per cent on a day before the crash which rose a bit over 90 a day after the accident

Flight cancellations surged in the days following the Air India crash on June 12, when more than 250 lives were lost. Around 83 flights were cancelled later in June due to technical glitches, geopolitical tensions, bomb threats, and other causes, according to media reports. 

 

Between June 1 and June 29, the passenger load factor across most flights remained 80-95 per cent. The load factor is the percentage of available seats occupied by paying passengers on an aircraft. 

 

Passenger load factor dips mildly

 

Air India’s passenger load factor of 88.6 per cent a day before the crash rose to over 90 per cent on the day of the crash and remained over 90 per cent the next day. However, since June 16 (four days after the accident), it has remained below 88.6 per cent. The metric for Air India Express, too, rose for three days after the crash. However, it remained less than June 11 for most days since June 16. The case was similar for IndiGo, but to a lesser extent, while SpiceJet witnessed fluctuations.  

 

International passenger traffic shows no clear shift

 

In the 11 days before the crash, the number of departing international passengers stayed above 100,000 in the first six days, and below for the rest. Out of the 17 days post-crash, eight days witnessed traffic above 100,000 and nine days below it.   

 

Volatility weighed on flight movements 

 

There were sharp fluctuations in the number of international flights after the crash. It fell below 1,200 for three days after June 16, recovered for a couple of days, and again fell before rising.