Airline On-Time Performance Improves in May
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DOT 94-08
Bill Mosley
202-366-4570 |
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Monday, July 7, 2008 - The largest
U.S. airlines’ rate of on-time flights this past May was higher than in both the
same month last year and April 2008, according to the Air Travel Consumer
Report released today by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). The rates of flight cancellations and
mishandled baggage also declined compared to the same periods, according to the
report.
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 79.0 percent in May, higher
than both May 2007’s 77.9 percent and April 2008’s 77.7 percent.
The monthly report also includes
data on the causes of flight delays and consumer service, disability and
discrimination complaints received by DOT’s Aviation Consumer Protection
Division. This report also includes reports
required to be filed by
U.S. carriers of incidents involving pets traveling by air.
Cancellations
The consumer report includes BTS data on the number of
domestic flights canceled by the reporting carriers. In May, the carriers
canceled 1.0 percent of their scheduled domestic flights, lower than both the
rates of 1.1 percent in May 2007 and 1.7 percent in April 2008.
Causes of Flight Delays
In May, the carriers filing on-time
performance data reported that 7.73 percent of their flights were delayed by
aviation system delays, compared to 7.70 percent in April; 6.39 percent by
late-arriving aircraft, compared to 6.51 percent in April; 5.12 percent by
factors within the airline’s control, such as maintenance or crew problems, compared
to 5.63 percent in April; 0.53 percent by extreme weather, compared to 0.55
percent in April; and 0.04 percent for security reasons, the same percentage as
April. 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 show 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 May, 44.05 percent of late flights were delayed by weather, up 12.54
percent from May 2007, when 39.14 percent of late flights were delayed by
weather, and up 16.26 percent from April when 37.89 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 4.59 reports per 1,000 passengers in May, an
improvement over both May 2007’s rate of 5.94 and April 2008’s 4.99 rate.
Incidents
Involving Pets
In May, carriers reported six incidents
involving pets while traveling by air, up from three incidents in April. The May incidents involved four deaths and
two injuries.
Complaints
About Airline Service
In May, the department received 885 complaints
about airline service from consumers, down 4.8 percent from the 930 complaints
filed in May 2007 and 20.5 percent fewer than the total of 1,113 received in April
2008.
Complaints About Treatment of Disabled
Passengers
The report also
contains a tabulation of complaints filed with DOT in May against specific
airlines regarding the treatment of passengers with disabilities. The Department received a total of 39
disability-related complaints in May, up 14.7 percent from the 34 filed in May
2007 and 8.3 percent more than the 36 complaints received in April 2008.
Complaints
About Discrimination
In May,
the Department received 13 complaints alleging discrimination by airlines due
to factors other than disability – such as race, religion, national origin or
sex – up from both the five complaints received in May 2007 and the total of
eight received in April 2008.
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 May 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
79.0 percent on-time arrivals
Highest On-Time
Arrival Rates
1. Hawaiian
Airlines – 88.9 percent
2. Pinnacle
Airlines – 85.9 percent
3. AirTran
Airways – 84.7 percent
Lowest On-Time
Arrival Rates
1. American
Airlines – 67.3 percent
2. United
Airlines – 72.4 percent
3. Continental
Airlines – 75.4 percent
Most Frequently
Delayed Flights
1. Southwest Airlines flight 2709 from Houston
to San Diego – late 100 percent of
the time
2. Northwest Airlines flight 851 from Detroit
to Anchorage, AK
– late 94.12 percent of the time
3. SkyWest Airlines flight 2718 from Muskegon,
MI to Flint,
MI – late 91.67 percent of the time
4. American Airlines flight 1555 from New York
JFK to Miami – late 90.32 percent
of the time
4. American Airlines flight 1828 from Seattle
to Dallas/Fort Worth– late 90.32 percent of the time
Highest Rates of
Canceled Flights
1. American
Eagle Airlines – 2.8 percent
2. Mesa
Airlines – 2.2 percent
3. American
Airlines – 2.1 percent
Lowest Rates of Canceled Flights
1. Frontier
Airlines – 0.1 percent
2. JetBlue
Airways – 0.2 percent
3. Atlantic
Southeast Airlines – 0.2 percent
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