Airline On-Time Performance Improves in July
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Contact |
DOT 127-08
Bill Mosley
202-366-4570 |
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Wednesday, September 3, 2008 - Flights operated by
the nation’s largest airlines arrived on time at a higher rate this past July
than in both the previous month and July 2007, 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 75.7 percent in July, higher
than both July 2007’s 69.8 percent and June 2008’s 70.8 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 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 July, the
carriers canceled 1.7 percent of their scheduled domestic flights, lower than both
the 2.1 percent cancellation rate of July 2007 and the 1.8 percent rate posted
in June 2008.
Causes of Flight Delays
In July, the carriers filing on-time
performance data reported that 7.78 percent of their flights were delayed by
aviation system delays, compared to 10.16 percent in June; 7.17 percent by
late-arriving aircraft, compared to 8.86 percent in June; 6.30 percent by
factors within the airline’s control, such as maintenance or crew problems, compared
to 6.78 percent in June; 1.01 percent by extreme weather, compared to 1.14
percent in June; and 0.05 percent for security reasons, the same percentage as
June. 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 July, 44.37 percent of late flights were delayed by weather, up 2.83
percent from July 2007, when 43.15 percent of late flights were delayed by
weather, and down 6.02 percent from June when 47.21 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 4.86 reports per 1,000 passengers in July, an improvement
over both July 2007’s rate of 7.96 and June 2008’s 5.15 rate.
Incidents Involving
Pets
In July, carriers reported six incidents
involving pets while traveling by air, up from five incidents in June. The July incidents involved four deaths, one
injury and one lost pet.
Complaints
About Airline Service
In
July, the department received 1,093 complaints about airline service from
consumers, down 36.4 percent from the 1,720 complaints filed in July 2007 but
24.1 percent more than the total of 881 received in June 2008.
Complaints About Treatment of Disabled
Passengers
The report also
contains a tabulation of complaints filed with DOT in July against specific
airlines regarding the treatment of passengers with disabilities. The Department received a total of 65
disability-related complaints in July, up 38.3 percent from the 47 filed in
July 2007 and more than double the 27 complaints received in June 2008.
Complaints
About Discrimination
In July,
the Department received nine complaints alleging discrimination by airlines due
to factors other than disability – such as race, religion, national origin or
sex – down from the total of 15 complaints received in July 2007 but up from
the total of eight received in June 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 July 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
75.7 percent on-time arrivals
Highest On-Time
Arrival Rates
1. Pinnacle
Airlines – 85.6 percent
2. Hawaiian
Airlines – 83.6 percent
3. Southwest
Airlines – 83.1 percent
Lowest On-Time
Arrival Rates
1. Comair
– 63.3 percent
2. JetBlue
Airways – 64.6 percent
3. United
Airlines – 68.2 percent
Most Frequently
Delayed Flights
1. Comair flight 5292 from Minneapolis/St. Paul
to New York JFK – late 100 percent of the time
1. Comair flight 5614 from Charlotte,
NC to New York JFK – late 100 percent of
the time
1. Comair flight 5491 from Albany,
NY to New York JFK – late 100 percent of
the time
1. Comair flight 5739 from New York JFK to Pittsburgh
– late 100 percent of the time
5. Comair flight 5440 from Washington Dulles to New
York JFK – late 96.77 percent of the time
Highest Rates of
Canceled Flights
1. Comair
– 4.5 percent
2. United Airlines – 3.2 percent
3. JetBlue Airways – 3.2 percent
Lowest Rates of Canceled Flights
1. Frontier
Airlines – 0.2 percent
2. Northwest
Airlines – 0.6 percent
3. Southwest
Airlines – 0.6 percent
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