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NEW DELHI: Cracking the whip on errant employees to improve on time performance (OTP), Air India (AI) has suspended 17 air hostesses for allegedly delaying flights.

The airline has started monitoring when each of its crew reports to airports to operate flights. "These 17 cabin crew members were found to have delayed flights more than three times and they have been suspended," said an AI official.

The airline has so far sacked 272 cabin crew members for indiscipline. AI had earlier this year faced a sharp fall in its OTP due to reasons like shortage of crew and indiscipline that saw people reporting to airports late for flights.

The airline management then cracked the whip that has seen AI’s improvement in OTP in recent days.

For instance, a cabin crew staffer, who demanded longer rest hours in the Gulf recently and delayed a flight, was sacked.

According to latest directorate general of civil aviation data, the OTP of big Indian carriers (not including new airlines with small fleets) in April was led by GoAir at 80.6%, followed by Jet at 79.9% and AI (domestic) at 79.4%. IndiGo and SpiceJet had their OTP at 79.1% and 74.8%.

With the airline stabilizing its operations and hiring airhostesses to tide over cabin crew shortage, the Maharaja is planning to expand its wings overseas. The airline is looking at five new destinations in the US: San Francisco, Dallas, Houston, Washington and Boston. AI currently flies to New York and Chicago. It is the only Indian carrier to have nonstop services to North America.

"We are looking at these five new stations in the US. Depending on aircraft availability, we will launch flights to some of these places by this winter," said an official.

"We want to have flights to Stockholm and Copenhagen. The aircraft that flies to Moscow will fly further on to these two cities. We have sought Russia’s nod under fifth freedom, where an airline seeks rights to fly between two foreign countries on a flight originating or ending in its own country. We are awaiting Russia’s nod to fly to further on to Stockholm and Copenhagen from Moscow. Once that happens, we will cover northern Europe too," said a senior official.