Airline
On-Time Performance in January Better Than December, Slips From Previous Year
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DOT 30-08
Bill Mosley
202-366-4570 |
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Tuesday, March 4, 2008 - The nation’s largest
airlines’ rate of on-time flights this past January was higher than in December
but lower than in January 2007, 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 20 carriers reporting on-time
performance recorded an overall on-time arrival rate of 72.4 percent in January,
down from January 2007’s 73.1 percent but an improvement over December 2007’s
64.3 percent.
The monthly report also includes
data on flight cancellations and causes of flight delays, 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 required to be filed by U.S. carriers of incidents involving pets traveling by air.
Cancellations
The consumer report includes BTS
data on the number of domestic flights canceled by the reporting carriers. In January, the carriers canceled 2.9 percent
of their scheduled domestic flights, up from the 2.5 percent cancellation rate
posted in January 2007 but down from the 3.5 percent rate recorded in December
2007.
Causes of Flight Delays
In January, the carriers filing
on-time performance data reported that 8.42 percent of their flights were
delayed by aviation system delays, compared to 10.41 percent in December; 8.41
percent by late-arriving aircraft, compared to 10.89 percent in December; 6.79
percent by factors within the airline’s control, such as maintenance or crew
problems, compared to 9.15 percent in December; 0.88 percent by extreme
weather, compared to 1.38 percent in December; and 0.07 percent for security
reasons, compared to 0.08 percent 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, 43.56 percent of late flights
were delayed by weather, up 4.51 percent from January 2007, when 41.68 percent
of late flights were delayed by weather, and down 0.02 percent from December
when 43.57 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 7.37 reports per 1,000 passengers in January, an
improvement over both January 2007’s rate of 8.19 and December 2007’s 9.01
rate.
Incidents
Involving Pets
In January, carriers reported four incident involving
pets while traveling by air, up from one incident in December. All of the January incidents involved the
death of pets.
Complaints
About Airline Service
In January, the department received 1,174
complaints about airline service from consumers, up 55.7 percent from the 754
complaints filed in January 2007 and up 38.3 percent from the total of 849
received in December 2007.
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 43
disability-related complaints in January, 48.3 percent above the 29 filed in
January 2007 and more than double the total of 18 complaints filed in December
2007.
Complaints
About Discrimination
In
January, the Department received 11 complaints alleging discrimination by
airlines due to factors other than disability – such as race, religion,
national origin or sex – up from both the totals of 10 received in January 2007
and two filed in December 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
ticket offices or their travel agents. 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 January 2008
Key On-Time Performance and Flight Cancellation Statistics
Based on Data Filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics by the 20 Reporting Carrier
Overall
72.4 percent on-time arrivals
Highest On-Time
Arrival Rates
1. Hawaiian
Airlines – 94.1 percent
2. Aloha
Airlines – 93.1 percent
3. US
Airways – 79.5 percent
Lowest On-Time
Arrival Rates
1. United
Airlines – 62.1 percent
2. SkyWest
Airlines – 65.3 percent
3. American
Eagle Airlines – 65.9 percent
Most Frequently
Delayed Flights
1. Mesa
Airlines flight 7173 from Des Moines, IA
to Chicago – late 94.12 percent of
the time
2. United
Airlines flight 334 from Chicago to
Columbus, OH
– late 92.86 percent of the time
3. SkyWest
Airlines flight 6360 from Salt Lake City
to San Francisco – late 92.00 percent
of the time
4. Mesa
Airlines flight 7177 from Chicago
to Des Moines, IA
– late 90.91 percent of the time
5. Mesa
Airlines flight 7297 from Chicago
to Allentown, PA
– late 88.89 percent of the time
Highest Rates of
Canceled Flights
1. Mesa
Airlines – 6.5 percent
2. American Eagle Airlines – 5.6 percent
3. SkyWest Airlines – 5.2 percent
Lowest Rates of Canceled Flights
1. Frontier Airlines – 0.2 percent
2. Aloha Airlines – 0.6 percent
3. Continental Airlines – 0.8 percent
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