Better Than Monthly AND Yearly Figures

Here are some encouraging signs the abysmal performance of US airlines may be turning around, however slowly. Flights operated by the nation’s largest airlines arrived on time at a higher rate this past July than in both the previous month and July 2007, according to the Air Travel Consumer Report released Wednesday by the US 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 75.7 percent in July, higher than both July 2007's 69.8 percent and June 2008's 70.8 percent.

The monthly report also includes data on flight cancellations and the 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 of incidents involving pets traveling by air, as required to be filed by US carriers. 

The consumer report includes BTS data on the number of domestic flights canceled by the reporting carriers. In July, the carriers canceled 1.7 percent of their scheduled domestic flights, lower than both the 2.1 percent cancellation rate of July 2007 and the 1.8 percent rate posted in June 2008. 

In July, the carriers filing on-time performance data reported that 7.78 percent of their flights were delayed by aviation system delays, compared to 10.16 percent in June; 7.17 percent by late-arriving aircraft, compared to 8.86 percent in June; 6.30 percent by factors within the airline's control, such as maintenance or crew problems, compared to 6.78 percent in June; 1.01 percent by extreme weather, compared to 1.14 percent in June; and 0.05 percent for security reasons, the same percentage as June.

In July, 44.37 percent of late flights were delayed by weather, up 2.83 percent from July 2007, when 43.15 percent of late flights were delayed by weather, and down 6.02 percent from June when 47.21 percent of late flights were delayed by weather.

The US carriers reporting flight delays and mishandled baggage data posted a mishandled baggage rate of 4.86 reports per 1,000 passengers in July, an improvement over both July 2007's rate of 7.96 and June 2008's 5.15 rate. 

Among the sour notes, in July carriers reported six incidents involving pets while traveling by air... up from five incidents in June. The July incidents involved four deaths, one injury and one lost pet. Fliers also lodged more complaints against airlines in July than in June 2008... but overall complaints were down 36.4 percent compared with July 2007.

FMI: Read The Full Release