Airline On-Time Performance Improves in April
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DOT 76-09
Bill Mosley
202-366-4570 |
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Tuesday, June 9, 2009 - The nation's largest airlines had a rate
of on-time flights this past April that was higher than both the same month
last year and the mark posted in March 2009, 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 79.1 percent in April, better than both
the 77.7 percent on-time rate of April 2008 and March 2009's 78.4 percent.
The monthly report also includes data
on lengthy tarmac delays, flight cancellations and the causes of flight delays
by the reporting carriers, as well as 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 April, the
carriers canceled 1.5 percent of their scheduled domestic flights, a lower rate
than both the 1.7 percent cancellation rate of April 2008 and the 2.1 percent
rate posted in March 2009.
Tarmac Delays
In April, the carriers filing
on-time performance data reported that .0152 percent of their scheduled flights
had tarmac delays of three hours or more, down from .0158 percent in March. There were five flights with tarmac delays of
four hours or more in April.
Causes of Flight Delays
In April, the carriers filing on-time
performance data reported that 7.40 percent of their flights were delayed by
aviation system delays, compared to 7.29 percent in March; 6.19 percent by
late-arriving aircraft, compared to 6.49 percent in March; 4.78 percent by
factors within the airline's control, such as maintenance or crew problems, compared
to 4.84 percent in March; 0.69 percent by extreme weather, compared to 0.62
percent in March; and 0.03 percent for security reasons, compared to 0.04
percent in March. 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 April, 44.38 percent of late flights were delayed by weather, up
17.13 percent from April 2008, when 37.89 percent of late flights were delayed
by weather, and down 2.42 percent from March when 45.48 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 3.79 reports per 1,000 passengers in April, an
improvement over both April 2008's rate of 4.99 and March 2009's 4.12 rate.
Incidents Involving
Pets
In April, carriers reported no incidents
involving the loss, death or injury of pets while traveling by air, down from
three incidents in April 2008 and two in March 2009.
Complaints
About Airline Service
In April, the Department received 781 complaints
about airline service from consumers, down 29.8 percent from the 1,112
complaints filed in April 2008 but 10.8 percent more than the total of 705
complaints received in March 2009.
Complaints About Treatment of Disabled
Passengers
The report also
contains a tabulation of complaints filed with DOT in April against airlines
regarding the treatment of passengers with disabilities. The Department received a total of 46
disability-related complaints in April, up from both the total of 35 complaints
received in April 2008 and the 37 complaints received in March 2009.
Complaints
About Discrimination
In April,
the Department received 14 complaints alleging discrimination by airlines due
to factors other than disability – such as race, religion, national origin or
sex – up from both the total of eight discrimination complaints filed in April
2008 and the total of six received in March 2009.
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.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.dot.gov. It is available in 'pdf" and Microsoft Word
format.
Air Travel Consumer Report April 2009
Key On-Time Performance and Flight Cancellation Statistics
Based on Data Filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics by the 19 Reporting Carriers
Overall
79.1 percent on-time arrivals
Highest On-Time
Arrival Rates
1. Hawaiian
Airlines – 91.1 percent
2. Pinnacle
Airlines – 86.2 percent
3. SkyWest
Airlines – 85.8 percent
Lowest On-Time
Arrival Rates
1. Comair
– 68.6 percent
2. Atlantic
Southeast Airlines – 69.4 percent
3. Continental
Airlines – 72.0 percent
Most Frequently
Delayed Flights
1. Northwest Airlines flight 803 from Atlanta
to Honolulu – late 96.55 percent of
the time
2. Comair flight 6652 from Kansas
City, MO to New York LaGuardia
– late 96.15 percent of the time
3. Comair flight 6295 from Indianapolis
to New York JFK – late 90.00 percent of the time
3. Comair flight 6675 from New York JFK to
Dallas/Fort Worth – late 90.00 percent of the time
3. Continental Airlines flight 1567 from Cleveland
to Newark, NJ
– late 90.00 percent of the time
3. SkyWest Airlines flight 2852 from Milwaukee
to Newark, NJ
– late 90.00 percent of the time
Flights with Longest Tarmac
Delays
1. American
Airlines flight 2306 from Vail/Eagle, CO to Dallas/Fort Worth, 4/3/09 – delayed on tarmac 290 minutes
2. United
Airlines flight 406 from Denver
to New York LaGuardia, 4/17/09
– delayed on tarmac 264 minutes
3. American
Airlines flight 370 from Chicago O'Hare to New York LaGuardia, 4/20/09 – delayed on tarmac 249
minutes
4. JetBlue
Airways flight 1103 from New York JFK to Raleigh/Durham, NC, 4/6/09 – delayed on tarmac 247
minutes
5. American
Airlines flight 2396 from Vail/Eagle, CO to New York JFK, 4/3/09 – delayed on tarmac 240
minutes
Highest Rates of
Canceled Flights
1. American
Eagle Airlines – 3.3 percent
2. JetBlue
Airways – 3.2 percent
3. Atlantic
Southeast Airlines – 3.2 percent
Lowest Rates of Canceled Flights
1. Alaska Airlines – 0.4 percent
2. Hawaiian Airlines – 0.4 percent
3. Northwest Airlines – 0.5 percent
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