Airline On-Time Performance Improves in September
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DOT 161-08
Bill Mosley
202-366-4570 |
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Friday, November 7, 2008 - Flights operated by
the nation's largest airlines arrived on time at a higher rate this past September
than in either September of last year or in August 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 84.9 percent in
September, higher than both September 2007's 81.7 percent and August 2008's
78.4 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 September, the
carriers canceled 1.8 percent of their scheduled domestic flights, a higher rate
than both the 1.1 percent cancellation rate of September 2008 and the 1.6
percent rate posted in August 2008.
Causes of Flight Delays
In September, the carriers filing
on-time performance data reported that 5.10 percent of their flights were delayed
by aviation system delays, compared to 6.68 percent in August; 3.62 percent by
late-arriving aircraft, compared to 6.32 percent in August; 4.02 percent by
factors within the airline's control, such as maintenance or crew problems, compared
to 5.82 percent in August; 0.40 percent by extreme weather, compared to 0.82
percent in August; and 0.02 percent for security reasons, compared to 0.04
percent in August. 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 September, 37.07 percent of late flights were delayed by weather, up
8.52 percent from September 2007, when 34.16 percent of late flights were
delayed by weather, and down 5.82 percent from August when 39.36 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 3.86 reports per 1,000 passengers in September, an
improvement over both September 2007's rate of 5.36 and August 2008's 4.98
rate. For the first nine months of this
year, the carriers posted a mishandled baggage rate of 5.41 per 1,000
passengers, down from the 7.26 rate posted during January-September 2007.
Bumping
The report also includes reports
of involuntary denied boarding, or bumping, for the third quarter and first
nine months of this year from U.S. carriers who also report flight delay information. These carriers posted
a bumping rate of 1.03 per 10,000 passengers for the quarter, up from the 0.99
rate for the third quarter of 2007. For
the first nine months of this year, the carriers had a bumping rate of 1.11 per
10,000 passengers, down from the rate of 1.22 rate posted during the first nine
months of 2007.
Incidents
Involving Pets
In September, carriers reported no incidents
involving pets while traveling by air, down from four incidents in August.
Complaints
About Airline Service
In September, the Department received 684
complaints about airline service from consumers, down 23.8 percent from the 898
complaints filed in September 2007 and 32.0 percent fewer than the total of 1,006
received in August 2008. For the first
nine months of this year the Department received 8,786 complaints, 15.7 percent
fewer than the 10,420 complaints filed during January-September 2007.
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 40
disability-related complaints in September, down 18.4 percent from the 49 filed
in September 2007 and 2.4 percent fewer than the 41 complaints received in
August 2008. For the first nine months
of this year the Department received 372 disability-related complaints, up one-half
of one percent from the 370 disability complaints filed during
January-September 2007.
Complaints
About Discrimination
In September,
the Department received 10 complaints alleging discrimination by airlines due
to factors other than disability – such as race, religion, national origin or
sex – the same number recorded in September 2007 and down from the total of 17
received in August 2008. For the first
nine months of this year the Department received 91 discrimination complaints,
up 9.6 percent from the total of 83 filed during January-September 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 September 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
84.9 percent on-time arrivals
Highest On-Time
Arrival Rates
1. Hawaiian
Airlines – 95.1 percent
2. Frontier
Airlines – 91.4 percent
3. Pinnacle
Airlines – 90.6 percent
Lowest On-Time
Arrival Rates
1. Comair
– 77.4 percent
2. Mesa
Airlines – 78.1 percent
3. United
Airlines – 79.8 percent
Most Frequently
Delayed Flights
1. American Airlines flight 1267 from Miami
to San Juan, PR – late 86.67
percent of the time
2. Comair flight 6273 from Cleveland
to Atlanta – late 82.76 percent of
the time
(There were only
two flights in this category in September)
Highest Rates of
Canceled Flights
1. Continental
Airlines – 6.1 percent
2. ExpressJet
Airlines – 5.9 percent
3. American
Eagle Airlines – 2.5 percent
Lowest Rates of Canceled Flights
1. Hawaiian
Airlines – 0.2 percent
2. Frontier
Airlines – 0.4 percent
3. Northwest Airlines – 0.5 percent
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