DOT Report Shows Complaints Up in January; Record-Low Bumping Level in 2001

Contact DOT 21-02 Bill Mosley 202-366-5571

Tuesday, March 5, 2002 -- The U.S. Department of Transportation received 90.3 percent more complaints from consumers about airline service in January than in December, according to the department's Air Travel Consumer Report.

The department received 1,062 complaints in January, up from December's total of 558. The increase in January is due largely to the resumption of more normal mail service to the department. From Oct. 15 to the end of the year, almost all complaints received by the department came via e-mail or telephone. January's complaint total still falls 52.3 percent below the 2,226 complaints received in January 2001.

The report also shows that last year, the nation's largest airlines bumped a lower percentage of passengers than in any year since the government began reporting denied-boarding data in 1974.

According to the report, the 11 largest U.S. airlines operating last year posted a rate of involuntary denied boarding, or bumping, of 0.86 per 10,000 passengers, down from the rate of 1.05 for 2000. The lowest bumping rate for a calendar year previously reported was 1998's record of 0.87. For the fourth quarter of last year, the carriers posted a bumping rate of 1.01 per 10,000, slightly better than the 1.03 rate for the fourth quarter of 2000. A reduced volume of air traffic following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks may have helped to limit bumping totals after that date. In addition, efforts by the airlines to limit the number of passengers involuntarily denied boarding contributed to the lower bumping rate throughout the year.

In addition to the information on complaints and bumping, the report includes data from the department's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) regarding airline on-time arrivals, as well as information about mishandled baggage and consumer disability complaints for January.

Flight Delays

According to the information filed with BTS, the 10 carriers reporting on-time performance posted an 81.0 percent on-time record in January, better than both December's rate of 80.2 and January 2001's 76.6 percent mark. America West Airlines had the best on-time arrival rate in January at 86.3 percent, followed by Southwest Airlines at 84.6 and Continental Airlines at 83.8. Delta Air Lines had the lowest percentage of on-time flights, ranking tenth at 74.9, with Alaska Airlines ranked ninth at 75.0 and Northwest Airlines eighth at 79.3. The reduced volume of air traffic following the Sept. 11 attacks also may have contributed to the reduction in flight delays after that date.

The report contains a list of regularly scheduled flights that were late at least 80 percent of the time. In December, there was only one flight on the list: Southwest flight 1947 from Tampa, FL, to Phoenix, which was late 84.21 percent of the time.

The report 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 causes, only the occurrence, of flight delays.

These official on-time data are distinct from the data compiled by DOT's Federal Aviation Administration (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 January, the carriers canceled 1.7 percent of their scheduled domestic flights, higher than December's rate of 1.0 percent but well below the 3.3 percent rate of January 2001. American Eagle Airlines had the highest percentage of canceled flights in January at 3.1, followed by Delta at 2.9 and Alaska at 2.3. Continental had the lowest percentage of cancellations at 0.3 percent, followed by America West at 0.8 and Southwest at 1.1.

Mishandled Baggage

The 10 largest U.S. carriers posted a mishandled baggage rate of 4.69 reports per 1,000 passengers in January, better than both December's rate of 5.29 and January 2001's 5.66.

Complaints About Treatment of Disabled Passengers

The report also contains a tabulation of complaints filed with DOT in January against specific airlines regarding the treatment of passengers with disabilities. The department received a total of 25 disability-related complaints in January, an increase of 25 percent over the 20 complaints received in December but 44.4 percent fewer than the 45 complaints of January 2001.

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, by voice mail at (202) 366-2220 or by TTY at (202) 366-0511.

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. 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://www.dot.gov/airconsumer. It is available in "pdf" and Microsoft Word format.