Travel Was Down, as Airlines Mothballed Oldest in Fleet
The
nation’s largest air carriers improved their on-time
performance in 2002 while consumers filed substantially fewer
complaints about airline service than in the previous year,
according to the monthly Air Travel Consumer Report
just issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation
(DoT). The carriers also recorded fewer reports of mishandled
bags last year and bumped fewer passengers involuntarily, the DoT
report shows.
In addition to data for the calendar year, the report also
contains on-time performance, mishandled baggage and consumer
complaint data for December, and bumping data for the fourth
quarter of 2002.
Flight Delays
According to
information filed with the department’s Bureau of
Transportation Statistics (BTS), the 10 largest U.S. carriers
currently required to report on-time performance posted an on-time
arrival rate of 82.1 percent in 2002, up from 2001’s 77.4
percent. For the month of December, the carriers recorded an
on-time arrival rate of 78.3 percent, not as good as either
December 2001’s 80.2 percent or November 2002’s
85.2. United Airlines had the best on-time arrival
rate in December at 82.2 percent, followed by American
Airlines at 80.9 and Northwest Airlines at 79.9. American
Eagle Airlines had the lowest percentage of on-time flights in
November at 73.1 percent, with Alaska Airlines ranked ninth at 73.8
percent and America West Airlines eighth at 75.7
percent.
The monthly report contains a list of regularly scheduled
flights that were late at least 80 percent of the time. In
December, only one flight made the list: Continental Airlines
flight 522 from Houston to San Francisco, late 82.35 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.
Flight Cancellations
The consumer report also includes BTS data on the
number of domestic flights canceled in December by the reporting
carriers. In December, the carriers canceled 1.7 percent of
their scheduled domestic flights, more than both December
2001’s 1.0 percent and November 2002’s 0.9
percent. American Eagle had the highest rate of canceled
flights in November at 4.2 percent, followed by Alaska at 2.2 and
US Airways, also at 2.2 but a fraction of a percentage fewer than
Alaska. United had the lowest percentage of cancellations at
0.8 percent, followed by Continental in ninth place with 0.9
percent, and American West eighth at 1.0.
Mishandled Baggage
During 2002, the 10 U.S. airlines required to file flight delay
and mishandled baggage data posted a mishandled baggage rate of
3.84 reports per 1,000 passengers, well below 2001’s rate of
4.58. In December, the carriers compiled a mishandled baggage
rate of 4.91, slightly better than December 2001’s 4.96 but
not as good as November 2002’s rate of
3.16.
Bumping
The 10 largest U.S. passenger carriers posted a rate of
involuntary denied boarding, or bumping, of 0.72 per 10,000
passengers in 2002, down from 2002’s rate of 0.82. For
the fourth quarter of last year, the carriers posted a bumping rate
of 0.96 per 10,000 passengers, compared to the rate of 1.01 for the
fourth quarter of 2001.
Complaints About Airline Service
During
2002, the department received 9,471 complaints from consumers about
airline service, a drop of 42.6 percent below the total of 16,508
recorded in 2001. In December, the Department received 517
complaints, a 6.7 percent drop from the 554 complaints filed in
December 2001 and a fraction of a percent fewer than the 519
received in November 2002.
Complaints About Treatment of Passengers With Disabilities
The report also contains a tabulation of complaints filed with
DoT during 2002 and December against specific airlines regarding
the treatment of passengers with disabilities. The department
received a total of 477 disability-related complaints last year, a
5.7 percent decrease from the total of 508 recorded in
2001. For December, the department received 24
disability-related complaints, an increase of 26.3 percent over the
19 recorded in December 2001 but a 22.6 percent decrease from the
total of 31 filed in November 2002.
Complaints About Discrimination
Consumers registered 195 complaints during 2002
alleging discrimination by airlines due to factors other than
disability – such as race, religion, national origin or sex
-– a 2.1 percent increase over the 191 filed in
2001. During December, the department received eight
discrimination complaints, a 71.4 percent drop from the 28 received
in December 2001 but more than the total of five received in
November 2002.
How you, too, can complain:
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.