FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, January 3, 2000
Contact: Bill Mosley
Tel.: (202) 366-5571
DOT 02-00
DOT Issues Monthly
Air Travel Consumer Report
The Department of Transportation today issued its monthly Air Travel Consumer Report, which contains information about airline on-time arrivals, mishandled baggage and consumer complaints for November 1999.
The 10 largest U.S. carriers posted an 81.4 percent on-time record in November, better than October’s 80.1 percent mark but not as good as November 1998’s 83.3 percent. The report also contains a note reminding consumers that flight delays can be caused by a variety of factors. The data on which this report is based do not identify the cause, only the occurrence, of flight delays.
The carriers posted a mishandled baggage rate of 4.01 complaints per 1,000 passengers in November, better than both October’s 4.25 rate and November 1998's 4.21.
Consumers registered 1,700 complaints about airline service with the department in November, 5 percent more than the 1,616 complaints filed in October and well over double the 722 registered in November 1998.
This report also contains a tabulation of complaints filed with DOT in November against specific airlines regarding the treatment of passengers with disabilities. Consumers filed a total of 70 disability complaints in November, compared to 81 in October and 41 in November 1998.
Consumers may file their complaints in writing with the Aviation Consumer Protection Division, U.S. Department of Transportation, C-75, 400 7th St., S.W., Room 4107, Washington, D.C. 20590, by e-mail at airconsumer@ost.dot.gov, or by voice mail at (202) 366-2220.
The department reminded consumers who want on-time performance data for specific flights to call their airline ticket offices or their travel agents. This information is available on the computerized reservation systems used by these agents.
The Air Travel Consumer Report can be found on DOT’s World Wide Web site at http://www.dot.gov/airconsumer. It is available in "pdf" format.
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