Airlines’ September On-Time Record Third-Best Since 1995
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Contact |
DOT 126-03
Bill Mosley
202-366-4570 |
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Thursday, November 6, 2003 - The 17 U.S. commercial air carriers reporting
on-time performance posted an 85.6 percent on-time arrival record in September,
the third-best monthly performance since the U.S. Department of Transportation
(DOT) began collecting comparable on-time reports in 1995, according to the
department’s monthly Air Travel Consumer Report released today. September’s
performance was up from August’s 79 percent rate.
The monthly report also includes data on flight delays and cancellations, reports
of mishandled baggage filed with the carriers, airline reports of oversales
(“bumping”) for the third quarter of this year, airline service
complaints, and consumer disability and discrimination complaints received by
the Aviation Consumer Protection Division.
Flight Delays
SkyWest Airlines had the highest on-time rate in September at 92.3 percent,
followed by JetBlue Airways in second place at 92.1 and Southwest Airlines third
at 89.7. ExpressJet Airlines had the lowest percentage of on-time flights at
77.8 percent, with Continental Airlines ranked 16th at 78.1 percent and Atlantic
Southeast Airlines 15th at 81.6 percent.
The report contains a list of regularly scheduled flights that were late at
least 80 percent of the time. In September, the most frequently delayed flight
was Continental flight 1434 from Norfolk, VA to Newark, NJ, late 90.48 percent
of the time. ExpressJet flight 2845 from Des Moines, IA to Newark, NJ; Continental
flight 691 from Greensboro, NC to Newark, NJ; and ExpressJet flight 2781 from
Hartford, CT to Newark, NJ were tied as the second most-delayed flights, arriving
late 88.46 percent of the time.
These official on-time data are distinct from the data compiled by the FAA,
which records delays while aircraft are under control of the air traffic control
system (i.e., from actual gate pushback time to actual gate arrival time). FAA
data cover some of the delays caused by weather and volume, for example, but
do not cover delays at the gate such as those caused by aircraft mechanical
problems, crew unavailability or many weather conditions affecting flights before
they depart. The FAA data are useful for managing the air traffic control system
but are not designed to measure airline passenger delays.
Flight Cancellations
The consumer report also includes BTS data on the number of domestic flights
canceled by the reporting carriers. In September, the carriers canceled 1.4
percent of their scheduled domestic flights, down slightly from August’s
1.6 percent cancellation rate. American Eagle Airlines had the highest percentage
of canceled flights in September at 2.6 percent, followed by ExpressJet Airlines
and Atlantic Coast Airlines at 2.3 percent. JetBlue Airways had the lowest percentage
of cancellations at 0.1 percent, followed by America West Airlines at 0.6 percent
and United Airlines at 0.7 percent.
Mishandled Baggage
The 17 U.S. carriers reporting flight delays and mishandled baggage data posted
a mishandled baggage rate of 3.17 reports per 1,000 passengers in September,
lower than August’s 4.61 rate. For the first nine months of this year,
the carriers had a mishandled baggage rate of 4.20 reports per 1,000 passengers.
Bumping
The report also includes airline reports of involuntary denied boarding, or
bumping, for the third quarter of 2003. Of the 17 U.S. carriers that report
on-time performance and mishandled baggage data, 14 are also required to report
their bumping records to DOT. These 14 carriers
posted a bumping rate of 0.70 per 10,000 passengers for the quarter, down from
the 1.08 rate for the second quarter of 2003. For the first nine months of this
year, the carriers had a bumping rate of 0.89 per 10,000 passengers.
Complaints About Airline Service
DOT’s Aviation Consumer Protection Division received 460 complaints from
consumers about airline service in September, down 10.7 percent from the 515
complaints filed in September 2002 and 11.0 percent fewer than the total of
517 received in August 2003. For the first nine months of this year, DOT received
4,734 complaints from consumers about airline service.
Complaints About Treatment of Disabled Passengers
The report also contains a tabulation of complaints filed with DOT in September
against specific airlines regarding the treatment of passengers with disabilities.
The department received a total of 41 disability-related complaints in September,
41.4 percent more than the total of 29 filed in September 2002 and 5.2 percent
more than the 39 recorded in August 2003.
Complaints About Discrimination
In September, the department received nine complaints alleging discrimination
by airlines due to factors other than disability – such as race, religion,
national origin or sex – down 18.2 percent from the total of 11 recorded
in September 2002 but one more than the eight received in August 2003.
Consumers may file their complaints in writing with the Aviation Consumer Protection
Division, U.S. Department of Transportation, C-75, Room 4107, 400 7th St., S.W.,
Washington, DC 20590, by e-mail at airconsumer@ost.dot.gov,
by voice mail at (202) 366-2220 or by TTY at (202) 366-0511.
The department reminds 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. Detailed
flight delay information is also available on the BTS site on the World Wide
Web at http://www.bts.gov.
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.
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