June Airline
On-Time Performance Better than Last Year, Down from May
PDF
|
Contact |
DOT 107-08
Bill Mosley
202-366-4570 |
|
Tuesday, August 5, 2008 - Flights operated by the
nation’s largest airlines arrived on time at a higher rate this past June than
in June of last year, but at a lower rate than in May 2008, according to the
Air Travel Consumer Report released today by the U.S. Department of
Transportation (DOT).
According to information filed with
the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), a part of DOT’s Research and
Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), the 19 carriers reporting on-time
performance recorded an overall on-time arrival rate of 70.8 percent in June, higher
than June 2007’s 68.1 percent but down from May 2008’s 79.0 percent.
The monthly report also includes
data on flight cancellations and the causes of flight delays, as well as
information on reports of mishandled baggage filed with the carriers, airline
bumping and consumer service, disability and discrimination complaints received
by DOT’s Aviation Consumer Protection Division. This report
also includes reports of incidents involving pets traveling by air, as required
to be filed by
U.S. carriers.
Cancellations
The consumer report includes BTS data on the number of
domestic flights canceled by the reporting carriers. In June, the
carriers canceled 1.8 percent of their scheduled domestic flights, lower than
the 2.7 percent cancellation rate of June 2007 but higher than the 1.0
cancellation rate posted in May 2008.
Causes of Flight Delays
In June, the carriers filing on-time
performance data reported that 10.16 percent of their flights were delayed by
aviation system delays, compared to 7.73 percent in May; 8.86 percent by
late-arriving aircraft, compared to 6.39 percent in May; 6.78 percent by
factors within the airline’s control, such as maintenance or crew problems, compared
to 5.12 percent in May; 1.14 percent by extreme weather, compared to 0.53
percent in May; and 0.05 percent for security reasons, compared to 0.04 percent
in May. Weather is a factor in both the
extreme-weather category and the aviation-system category. This includes delays
due to the re-routing of flights by DOT’s Federal Aviation Administration in
consultation with the carriers involved. Weather is also a factor in delays attributed to late-arriving aircraft,
although airlines do not report specific causes in that category.
Data collected by BTS also shows
the percentage of late flights delayed by weather, including those reported in
either the category of extreme weather or included in National Aviation System
delays. In June, 47.21 percent of late flights were delayed by weather, up 5.00
percent from June 2007, when 44.96 percent of late flights were delayed by
weather, and up 7.17 percent from May when 44.05 percent of late flights were
delayed by weather.
Detailed information on flight
delays and their causes is available on the BTS site on the World Wide Web at http://www.bts.gov.
Mishandled Baggage
The U.S. carriers reporting flight delays and mishandled baggage data posted a mishandled
baggage rate of 5.15 reports per 1,000 passengers in June, an improvement over both
June 2007’s rate of 7.94 and May 2008’s 5.94 rate. For the first six months of this year, the
carriers posted a mishandled baggage rate of 5.82 per 1,000 passengers, down
from the 7.36 rate for the first six months of 2007.
Bumping
The report also includes reports
of involuntary denied boarding, or bumping, for the second quarter and first
six months of this year from U.S. carriers who also report flight delay information. These carriers posted
a bumping rate of 1.00 per 10,000 passengers for the quarter, down from the
1.23 rate for the second quarter of 2007. For the first six months of this year, the carriers had a bumping rate
of 1.16 per 10,000 passengers, down from the rate of 1.34 rate posted during
the first six months of 2007.
Incidents
Involving Pets
In June, carriers reported five incidents
involving pets while traveling by air, down from six incidents in May. The June incidents involved three deaths, one
injury and one lost pet.
Complaints
About Airline Service
In June, the department received 881 complaints
about airline service from consumers, down 19.7 percent from the 1,097
complaints filed in June 2007 and 0.5 percent fewer than the total of 885
received in May 2008. For the first six
months of this year the Department received 6,001 complaints, 2.6 percent fewer
than the 6,162 complaints filed during January-June 2007.
Complaints About Treatment of Disabled
Passengers
The report also
contains a tabulation of complaints filed with DOT in June against specific
airlines regarding the treatment of passengers with disabilities. The Department received a total of 27
disability-related complaints in June, down 43.8 percent from the 48 filed in
June 2007 and 30.8 percent fewer than the 39 complaints received in May 2008. For the first six months of this year the
Department received 226 disability-related complaints, up 6.6 percent from the
212 disability complaints filed during January-June 2007.
Complaints
About Discrimination
In June,
the Department received eight complaints alleging discrimination by airlines
due to factors other than disability – such as race, religion, national origin
or sex – up from the total of six complaints received in June 2007 but fewer
than the total of 13 received in May 2008. For the first six months of this year the Department received 55
discrimination complaints, up 14.6 percent from the total of 48 filed during January-June
2007.
Consumers may
file their complaints in writing with the Aviation Consumer Protection
Division, U.S. Department of Transportation, C-75, W96-432, 1200
New Jersey Ave. SE, Washington, DC
20590; by voice mail at (202)
366-2220 or by TTY at (202) 366-0511; or on the web at http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov.
Consumers who
want on-time performance data for specific flights should call their airline’s reservation
number or their travel agent. 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://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov. It is available in “pdf” and Microsoft Word
format.
Air Travel Consumer Report June 2008
Key On-Time Performance and Flight Cancellation Statistics
Based on Data Filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics by the 19 Reporting Carriers
Overall
70.8 percent on-time arrivals
Highest On-Time
Arrival Rates
1. Hawaiian
Airlines – 92.2 percent
2. Pinnacle
Airlines – 80.7 percent
3. SkyWest
Airlines – 77.9 percent
Lowest On-Time
Arrival Rates
1. American
Airlines – 58.8 percent
2. United
Airlines – 59.3 percent
3. Comair
– 63.4 percent
Most Frequently
Delayed Flights
1. American Airlines flight 1639 from New York
JFK to San Juan, PR – late 100
percent of the time
1. Comair flight 5292 from Minneapolis/St. Paul
to New York JFK – late 100 percent of the time
3. Comair flight 5469 from New York JFK to Chicago
O’Hare – late 96.67 percent of the time
4. American Airlines flight 2361 from Chicago
O’Hare to Dallas/Fort Worth – late 96.15 percent of the time
4. Comair flight 5287 from New York JFK to
Minneapolis/St. Paul – late 96.15 percent of the time
4. ExpressJet flight 3074 from Columbus,
OH to Newark,
NJ – late 96.15 percent of the time
Highest Rates of
Canceled Flights
1. Mesa
Airlines – 4.3 percent
2. American
Eagle Airlines – 4.2 percent
3. Comair – 3.7 percent
Lowest Rates of Canceled Flights
1. Frontier Airlines – 0.2 percent
2. Hawaiian Airlines – 0.3 percent
3. Southwest Airlines – 0.3 percent
|