Flight delays aren't always related to weather conditions; many major airlines may even use this pretext to their advantage, for example, to reduce their own costs. This was stated by the Institute of Transport Economics and Transport Policy. The Moscow Interregional Transport Prosecutor's Office (MITP) is investigating the causes of the widespread delays.
For example, last weekend, Aeroflot announced the cancellation of 131 flights and the postponement of 151. Other airlines did not make any significant schedule changes. "Other airlines did not make any significant changes—in total, we're talking about only about 20 flight cancellations," explained Ilya Zotov, head of the All-Russian Passenger Association.
According to Izvestia, many airlines shared their comments regarding flight delays. For example, S7 Airlines, UTair, Ural Airlines, and Nordavia reported that flights were not canceled due to weather conditions (snowfall), but only slightly delayed. UTair noted that flight delays averaged 15-20 minutes.
Moreover, Domodedovo Airport noted that technical flight delays were due to weather conditions, while Vnukovo Airport did not experience any canceled flights, and Sheremetyevo Airport operated as normal on January 26 and 27, despite the snowfall.
According to Andrey Kramarenko, an expert at the HSE Institute of Transport Economics and Transport Policy, this is not the first time Aeroflot has experienced widespread flight delays. "During periods of low demand, Aeroflot may be tempted to reduce the number of flights under a plausible pretext. This will reduce the number of takeoffs and landings at the airport, reduce flight delays, and thereby lower its own costs," he noted.
Andrey Kramarenko also added that flight cancellations do not affect the carrier's rating, unlike delays.
In turn, the chairman of the Passenger Union stated that "the airline may be abusing weather conditions to cancel lightly loaded flights and combine several such flights into one." However, other airliners were still taking off and landing in bad weather.
Aeroflot denied this situation and noted that forecasters carefully analyze weather conditions, and if the weather turns out to be unfavorable, the company cancels the flight in advance.
"Aeroflot is consolidating flights to avoid flying half-empty planes. This is a long-standing issue, well-known to everyone, and has been raised repeatedly. Sheremetyevo has a Category III airfield (the highest), so landings are not affected even in adverse weather conditions. We should ask Ural Airlines, Rossiya Airlines, and Nordwind, which fly to the same airport, why aren't they canceling flights like Aeroflot?" an industry source told Izvestia.
Alexander Ovanesov, managing partner of Arthur D. Little in Russia, added that only a major airline can cancel a flight, and if a small company cancels a flight, it will suffer greatly, as it will have to fly from another airline, which can be very costly.
It's worth noting that the Moscow Interregional Transport Prosecutor's Office (MMTP) plans to complete its investigation into the mass flight cancellations and delays on January 26-27 by the end of February. The investigation will help establish the precise causes of the delays and cancellations. If violations are discovered during the investigation, the prosecutor's office will take all necessary measures.
Source: trn-news.ru