Weather A Big Factor; 2007 Still On Track For Worst-Ever
Performance
Figures show 2007 continues to
track as the airline industry’s worst year ever for on-time
performance since record keeping started in 1995.
But there may be a glimmer of hope. Department of Transportation
statistics released Monday for the top 20 carriers showed an
on-time arrival rate of 81.7 percent in September... up from 76.2
percent from the same time last year, and 71.7 percent in August.
Better weather is credited for the results, as weather was a
factor in more than 34 percent of late flights for the month of
September. Last year at the same time, 40 percent of those flights
experienced weather-related delays, according to Breitbart.com
Carriers filing on-time performance data reported 5.89 percent
of their September flights were delayed by aviation system delays,
compared to 8.06 percent in August; 5.32 percent by late-arriving
aircraft, compared to 9.27 percent in August; 5.25 percent by
factors within the airline’s control, such as maintenance or
crew problems, compared to 7.67 percent in August; 0.56 percent by
extreme weather, compared to 1.02 percent in August; and 0.05
percent for security reasons, compared to 0.08 percent in
August.
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,
according to DOT records.
Better than 24 percent of flights arrived late in the first nine
months of 2007, making this the worst year for on-time flights
since 1995.
As ANN reported, federal
aviation regulators held a two-day summit aimed at fixing
"epidemic" delays at New York's John F. Kennedy International
Airport last month.
JFK had the second-worst on-time arrival record of any major US
airport through September; the FAA has proposed cutting JFK’s
traffic by 20 percent to alleviate delays.
But some airlines faired better this
year.
Aloha Airlines arrival rate was 95.4 percent on time, followed
by Hawaiian Airlines at 93.7 percent and Frontier Airlines at 88.5
percent, according to DOT statistics.
Slightly more than 63 percent of flights on Atlantic Southeast
Airlines were delayed, and one of its flights -- from Atlanta to
Myrtle Beach, SC -- was late 90 percent of the time.
Delta connector SkyWest had the lowest on-time arrival rate,
followed by Alaska Airlines at 73.3 percent and Northwest Airlines
at 77.8 percent.
Customer complaints rose in September to 895 compared with 627
in the same month last year, according to the government data.
Baggage loss rates climbed by carriers reporting flight delays
and mishandled baggage data posted a mishandled baggage rate of
7.25 reports per 1,000 passengers for the first nine months of this
year, up from the 6.45 rate posted during January-September 2006,
DOT statistics revealed.