Turkish Airlines racks up costs due to delays

ISTANBUL

Over the past 10 years Turkish Airlines has accrued costs totaling 48 million Turkish Liras due to airline delays, according to Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek.

Over the last ten years Turkish Airlines has accrued costs totaling 48 million Turkish Liras due to delays, Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek said in response to a bill from Parliament’s Republican People’s Party (CHP) member Umut Oran which argued the airline had let go of employees who participated in a strike because of costs related to delays.

Şimşek stressed that Turkish Airlines had spent the most money in 2010, roughly 12.6 million liras hosting passengers in hotels and providing alternative methods of transportation due to airline delays. In 2002, this number was only 1.5 million liras and 9.3 million liras in 2011.

Oran responded to these figures by saying that the airline had incurred losses because management was unable to plan properly and when introducing new routes, was unable to conduct a capacity analysis and made its decisions based on political considerations.