DOT Report Shows Complaints Up in January; Record-Low Bumping Level in 2001
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DOT 21-02 Bill Mosley
202-366-5571
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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.
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