AICM Changes Flight Display Policy to Improve Punctuality

Informative screens at Mexico City International Airport (AICM) will only display the official flight times set by the airport. Previously, these screens showed flight times set by the airlines, which did not necessarily match with those allocated to them by the airport. The measure seeks to show that the airlines deliberately choose to promote more commercially profitable times and not those they have been assigned, says AICM. It is expected that the change could take up to three weeks. 

As of March 26, the official schedules assigned by the airport administrator to each airline, which are the only ones used for planning flights at the airport, will be the ones displayed on the flight screens, says AICM. Schedules set by airlines will no longer be displayed. This aims to ensure that passengers are well informed and to measure and eliminate the time difference between the schedule assigned by the airport and the schedule marketed by the airlines. The ultimate goal is to streamline and improve punctuality. The distinction is a step to end a disorder created by the airlines and past administrators of AICM, according to El Pais. For example, if an airline has a designated take-off slot of 7:00 a.m. but tickets were sold for a 7:30 a.m. departure, the air terminal displays show that the flight departs at 7:00 a.m. but is delayed, instead of showing the assigned departure time.

Carlos Velázquez, Director, AICM, says that passengers should not worry about this change and should arrive as usual for their flights; two hours earlier for domestic and three for international flights. "If you arrive at the airport and see that the screen time does not match the one on your ticket, go directly to your airline so that they can give you the exact information," Velázquez tells El Universal. In turn, the Federal Consumer Protection Agency (Profeco) asked the airlines operating at AICM to inform passengers about their new flight schedules in a complete and timely manner to avoid affecting them.

Not all flights will show changes. However, the ones that do can even show a difference of up to 10 hours in disparity, in the most severe cases. According to El Pais, the managers of AICM estimate that 30% of the flights do not comply with the schedules assigned to them by the air terminal. According to airport authorities, the problem arises when airlines have a schedule assigned by authorities but deliberately choose to land or take off at a different time because it is more profitable. So emphasis is being made on adjusting to the remaining, less commercially attractive slots.