March Airline On-Time Performance Higher Than Last Year, Down from February
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DOT 65-09
Bill Mosley
202-366-4570 |
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Tuesday, May 12, 2009 - The nation's largest
airlines had a rate of on-time flights this past March that was higher than the
same month last year but down from the mark posted in February 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 78.4 percent in March, better
than the 71.6 percent on-time rate of March 2008 but down from February 2009's 82.6
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 airline bumping, 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 March, the
carriers canceled 2.1 percent of their scheduled domestic flights, a lower rate
than the 2.6 percent cancellation rate of March 2008 but higher than the 1.2
percent rate posted in February 2009.
Tarmac Delays
In March, the carriers filing
on-time performance data reported that .0158 percent of their scheduled flights
had tarmac delays of three hours or more, up from .0088 percent in February. There were 21 flights with tarmac delays of
four hours or more in March.
Causes of Flight Delays
In March, the carriers filing on-time
performance data reported that 7.29 percent of their flights were delayed by aviation
system delays, compared to 6.58 percent in February; 6.49 percent by late-arriving
aircraft, compared to 4.79 percent in February; 4.84 percent by factors within
the airline's control, such as maintenance or crew problems, compared to 4.17
percent in February; 0.62 percent by extreme weather, compared to 0.43 percent
in February; and 0.04 percent for security reasons, compared to 0.02 percent in
February. 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 March, 45.48 percent of late flights were delayed by weather, up
9.83 percent from March 2008, when 41.41 percent of late flights were delayed
by weather, and up 5.01 percent from February when 43.31 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 4.12 reports per 1,000 passengers in March, an
improvement over March 2008's rate of 6.66 but higher than February 2009's 3.56
rate. For the first quarter of this
year, the carriers posted a mishandled baggage rate of 4.29, down from the 6.81
rate for first quarter of 2008.
Bumping
The report also includes airline reports of
involuntary denied boarding, or bumping, for the first quarter of this
year. The 19 U.S. carriers who report on-time performance and mishandled baggage data posted a
bumping rate of 1.31 per 10,000 passengers for the quarter, down from the 1.37
rate for the first quarter of 2008 but up from the 1.10 rate posted during the
fourth quarter of 2008.
Incidents Involving
Pets
In March, carriers reported two incidents
involving the loss, death or injury of pets while traveling by air, down from
five incidents in March 2008 and identical to the total of two posted in
February 2009. March's incidents
involved one death and one injured pet.
Complaints
About Airline Service
In March, the Department received 705 complaints
about airline service from consumers, down 30.3 percent from the 1,011
complaints filed in March 2008 but 22.4 percent more than the total of 576
complaints received in February 2009. For the first quarter of this year, the Department received 2,164 air
service complaints, down 30.7 from the 3,122 complaints received during the
first quarter of 2008.
Complaints About Treatment of Disabled
Passengers
The report also
contains a tabulation of complaints filed with DOT in March against airlines
regarding the treatment of passengers with disabilities. The Department received a total of 37
disability-related complaints in March, down from the total of 44 complaints
received in March 2008 but up from the 33 complaints received in February 2009. For the first quarter of this year, the
Department received 113 disability-related complaints, down 8.9 percent from
the 124 filed during the first quarter of 2008.
Complaints
About Discrimination
In March,
the Department received six complaints alleging discrimination by airlines due
to factors other than disability – such as race, religion, national origin or
sex – identical to the total of six discrimination complaints filed in March
2008 and up from the total of three received in February 2009. For the first quarter of this year, the
Department received 15 discrimination complaints, down from the total of 26
received during the first quarter of 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 March 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
78.4 percent on-time arrivals
Highest On-Time
Arrival Rates
1. Hawaiian
Airlines – 91.5 percent
2. Pinnacle
Airlines – 85.1 percent
3. Southwest
Airlines – 83.9 percent
Lowest On-Time
Arrival Rates
1. Atlantic
Southeast Airlines – 60.9 percent
2. Alaska
Airlines – 70.2 percent
3. ExpressJet
Airlines – 71.7 percent
Most Frequently
Delayed Flights
1. Comair flight 6382 from Atlanta
to Newark, NJ
– late 96.30 percent of the time
2. ExpressJet Airlines flight 2090 from Newark,
NJ to Bangor,
ME – late 93.33 percent of the time
3. Mesa Airlines flight 2610 from Charlotte,
NC to Newark,
NJ – late 92.59 percent of the time
4. Comair flight 6542 from Kansas
City, MO to New York LaGuardia
– late 90.00 percent of the time
5. Alaska Airlines flight 152 from Nome,
AK to Kotzebue,
AK – late 87.10 percent of the time
5. Alaska Airlines flight 69 from Ketchikan,
AK to Juneau,
AK – late 87.10 percent of the time
Flights with Longest Tarmac
Delays
1. Delta
Air Lines flight 132 from Atlanta
to New York JFK, 3/1/09
– delayed on tarmac 348 minutes
2. Delta
Air Lines flight 9 from Atlanta
to Jacksonville, FL, 3/1/09 – delayed on tarmac 329
minutes
3. Delta
Air Lines flight 1028 from Atlanta
to Fort Lauderdale, FL, 3/1/09 – delayed on tarmac 327
minutes
4. Delta
Air Lines flight 1026 from Atlanta
to Newark, NJ, 3/1/09 – delayed on tarmac 324
minutes
5. Delta
Air Lines flight 1069 from Atlanta
to San Francisco, 3/1/09 – delayed on tarmac 316
minutes
Highest Rates of
Canceled Flights
1. Atlantic
Southeast Airlines – 5.3 percent
2. Comair
– 3.7 percent
3. Alaska
Airlines – 3.3 percent
Lowest Rates of Canceled Flights
1. Hawaiian Airlines – 0.1 percent
2. Northwest Airlines – 0.7 percent
3. Southwest Airlines – 1.0 percent
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