DOT Report Shows Fewer Flight Delays in 2001

Contact DOT 14-02 Kim Riddle 202-366-5580

Tuesday, February 5, 2002 -- The nation’s largest airlines improved their on-time performance in 2001 compared to the previous year, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Air Travel Consumer Report.

The 12 airlines reporting flight data during 2001 recorded an on-time arrival percentage of 77.4, compared to 72.6 percent in 2000, according to the report released today. The reduced volume of air traffic following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks may have contributed to the reduction in flight delays after that date.

In addition to the data from the department’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics regarding airline on-time arrivals, the report includes information about mishandled baggage and consumer disability and service complaints for last year and the month of December 2001.

Flight Delays

According to the information filed with BTS, the 11 carriers reporting in December posted an 80.2 percent on-time record, not as good as November’s rate of 84.7 percent but much better than December 2000’s 62.8 percent mark. America West Airlines had the best on-time arrival rate in December at 86.6 percent, followed by Continental Airlines at 82.9 and American Airlines at 82.7. Alaska Airlines had the lowest percentage of on-time flights at 69.0, with Northwest Airlines ranked tenth at 77.2 and United Airlines ninth at 77.9. Aloha Airlines, which was reporting on-time data voluntarily, filed its last report for October 2001 flight data and did not file for November and December.

The report contains a list of regularly scheduled flights that were late at least 80 percent of the time. In December, the three most frequently delayed flights were American flight 1411 from New York JFK to Miami, late 100 percent of the time; Northwest flight 1788 from Detroit to Philadelphia, late 86.67 percent of the time; and Southwest flight 1146 from San Diego to Oakland, CA, late 82.76 percent of the time. Following these, three Northwest flights originating in Detroit were all late 80.0 percent of the time: flight 1941 to Orlando, FL; flight 996 to Miami; and flight 1189 to Kansas City, MO.

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 December, the carriers canceled 1.0 percent of their scheduled domestic flights, slightly fewer than the 1.1 percent cancellation rate of November but much better than the rate of 5.9 percent for December 2000. American Eagle Airlines had the highest percentage of canceled flights in December at 2.7, followed by US Airways at 2.2 and Alaska at 1.5. Continental had the lowest percentage of cancellations at 0.2 percent, followed by American at 0.3 and Trans World Airlines at 0.4.

Mishandled Baggage

The 11 largest U.S. carriers posted a mishandled baggage rate of 5.29 reports per 1,000 passengers in December, not as good as November’s rate of 3.82 but much better than December 2000's 8.07. For calendar year 2001, the carriers recorded a mishandled baggage rate of 4.55 reports per 1,000 passengers, an improvement over 2000’s rate of 5.29.

Complaints About Airlines Service

The department received 558 complaints about airline service in December, an 8.1 percent increase over the 516 complaints filed in November but 56.6 percent fewer than the 1,287 filed in December 2000. For the year 2001, the department received a total of 16,508 complaints, a 29.4 percent decrease from the 23,381 filed in 2000. Mail delivery problems to U.S. government offices in the Washington area from October to the end of the year may have affected the complaint totals, with almost all complaints registered after Oct. 15 being received by e-mail or telephone.

In addition, this report also contains a tabulation of complaints filed with DOT in December and last year against specific airlines regarding the treatment of passengers with disabilities. The department received a total of 20 disability-related complaints in December, an increase of 81.8 percent over the 11 complaints received in November but 45.9 percent fewer than the 37 complaints filed in December 2000. For the year 2001, the department received 504 disability-related complaints, a decrease of 25.4 percent from the 676 reported in 2000. These totals may have been affected by mail delivery problems as well.

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.