Airline On-Time Performance Improves In January
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Contact |
DOT 28-09
Bill Mosley
202-366-4570 |
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Wednesday, March
11, 2009 - The nation’s
largest airlines had a higher rate of on-time flights this past January than in
either January of last year or in December 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 77.0 percent in January, an
improvement over both January 2008’s 72.4 percent and December 2008’s 65.3 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 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 January, the carriers canceled 2.3 percent of
their scheduled domestic flights, a lower rate than both the 2.9 percent cancellation
rate of January 2008 and the 3.3 percent rate posted in December 2008.
Tarmac Delays
In January, the carriers filing on-time performance data
reported that .0002 percent of their scheduled flights had tarmac delays of
three hours or more, down from .0003 percent in December. There were 16 flights with tarmac delays of
four hours or more in January. BTS
expects to release data on October, November, December and January tarmac delay
times for cancelled and diverted flights and for flights with multiple gate
departures on March 23.
Causes of Flight
Delays
In
January, the carriers filing on-time performance data reported that 8.04
percent of their flights were delayed by aviation system delays, compared to
10.57 percent in December; 6.29 percent by late-arriving aircraft, compared to
11.13 percent in December; 5.09 percent by factors within the airline’s
control, such as maintenance or crew problems, compared to 7.65 percent in
December; 0.96 percent by extreme weather, compared to 1.53 percent in December;
and 0.04 percent for security reasons, the same percentage as in December. 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 January,
43.61 percent of late flights were delayed by weather, up 0.11 percent from
January 2008, when 43.56 percent of late flights were delayed by weather, and
down 3.86 percent from December when 45.36 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 5.20 reports per 1,000 passengers in January, an
improvement over both January 2008’s rate of 7.39 and December 2008’s 6.96 rate.
Incidents Involving Pets
In
January, carriers reported no incidents involving the loss, death or injury of pets
while traveling by air, compared to four in January 2008 and one in December
2008.
Complaints About Airline Service
In
January, the Department received 884 complaints about airline service from
consumers, down 24.7 percent from the 1,174 complaints filed in January 2008
but 26.3 percent more than the total of 700 received in December 2008.
Complaints About Treatment of Disabled Passengers
The report also contains a
tabulation of complaints filed with DOT in January against airlines regarding
the treatment of passengers with disabilities. The Department received a total of 42 disability-related complaints in January,
6.7 percent fewer than the 45 complaints received in January 2008 but 27.3
percent more than the total of 33 filed in December 2008.
Complaints About Discrimination
In January, the Department
received six complaints alleging discrimination by airlines due to factors
other than disability – such as race, religion, national origin or sex – down
from both the 11 complaints received in January 2008 and the total of seven
filed in December 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.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 January 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
77.0 percent on-time arrivals
Highest On-Time
Arrival Rates
1. Hawaiian
Airlines – 90.8 percent
2. Southwest
Airlines – 83.3 percent
3. ExpressJet
Airlines – 79.8 percent
Lowest On-Time
Arrival Rates
1. Comair
– 56.7 percent
2. Atlantic
Southeast Airlines – 68.3 percent
3. Alaska
Airlines – 71.5 percent
Most Frequently
Delayed Flights
1. Comair flight 6808 from Cincinnati
to Newark, NJ
– late 95.65 percent of the time
2. Comair flight 6800 from Minneapolis/St. Paul
to New York JFK – late 93.55 percent of the time
3. Comair flight 6801 from New York JFK to
Minneapolis/St. Paul – late 93.33 percent of the time
4. Comair flight 6309 from Newark,
NJ to Cincinnati
– late 91.30 percent of the time
4. Comair flight 6469 from Atlanta
to Mobile, AL
– late 91.30 percent of the time
Flights with Longest Tarmac
Delays
1. Comair
flight 6331 from Cincinnati to
Pittsburgh, 1/28/09 – delayed on tarmac 458 minutes
2. US Airways flight 468 from Columbus, OH
to Phoenix, 1/28/2009 – delayed on tarmac
375 minutes
3. Atlantic
Southeast Airlines flight 5613 from Cincinnati
to Memphis, TN,
1/28/09 – delayed on
tarmac 346 minutes
4. Atlantic
Southeast Airlines flight 5615 from Akron/Canton, OH to Atlanta,
1/28/09 – delayed on
tarmac 299 minutes
5. Comair
flight 6367 from Cincinnati to
Charleston, SC,
1/28/09 – delayed on
tarmac 298 minutes
Highest Rates of
Canceled Flights
1. Comair
– 6.2 percent
2. American Eagle Airlines – 4.1 percent
3. American
Airlines – 3.5 percent
Lowest Rates of Canceled Flights
1. Hawaiian Airlines – 0.5 percent
2. Frontier
Airlines – 0.5 percent
3. Northwest
Airlines – 0.7 percent
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