Hard To Believe? Or Are People Just Tired Of Complaining (To
Little Effect)?
DOT tells us that
complaints about airline service filed by consumers with them fell
for the fourth consecutive month in November, according to the
department’s monthly Air Travel Consumer Report. DOT received
382 complaints in November, 26.4 percent below the total of 519
received in November 2002 and 4.0 percent fewer than the 398
complaints received this past October.
The monthly report also includes data on the number and causes
of flight delays, as well as information on flight cancellations,
reports of mishandled baggage filed with the carriers, and consumer
disability and discrimination complaints received by the Aviation
Consumer Protection Division.
Flight Delays*
According to information
filed with the department’s Bureau of Transportation
Statistics (BTS), the U.S. commercial air carriers reporting
on-time performance posted an 80.2 percent on-time arrival record
in November, down from October’s 86.4 percent mark. Hawaiian
Airlines – which is voluntarily filing on-time and baggage
mishandling data for the first time this month – had the
highest on-time rate in November at 93.3 percent.
Causes of Flight Delays
In November, the carriers filing their on-time performance
reported that 8.78 percent of their flights were delayed by
aviation system delays, compared to 5.43 percent in October; 4.73
percent by late-arriving aircraft, compared to 3.29 percent in
October; 4.02 percent by factors within the airline’s
control, such as maintenance or crew problems, compared to 3.49
percent in October; 0.64 percent by extreme weather, compared to
0.30 percent in October; and 0.04 percent for security reasons,
compared to 0.05 percent in October. The department noted that
weather is a factor not only in the extreme-weather category, but
also in the aviation-system category – which includes delays
due to the re-routing of flights by DOT’s Federal Aviation
Administration in consultation with the carriers involved –
and the late-arriving aircraft category.
Flight Cancellations*
The consumer report also includes BTS data on the number of
domestic flights canceled by the reporting carriers. In November,
the carriers canceled 1.4 percent of their scheduled domestic
flights, up from October’s 0.9 percent cancellation rate.
Mishandled Baggage*
The U.S. carriers
reporting flight delays and mishandled baggage data posted a
mishandled baggage rate of 3.54 reports per 1,000 passengers in
November, up from October’s 3.23 rate.
Complaints About Treatment of Disabled Passengers
The report also contains a tabulation of complaints filed with
DOT in November against specific airlines regarding the treatment
of passengers with disabilities. The department received a total of
48 disability-related complaints in November, 54.8 percent more
than the total of 31 filed in November 2002 and 41.2 percent more
than the 34 recorded in October 2003.
Complaints About Discrimination
In November, the department received four complaints alleging
discrimination by airlines due to factors other than disability
– such as race, religion, national origin or sex – one
fewer than the total of five recorded in November 2002 and
one-third fewer than the six recorded in October 2003.
* (Due to a difference in the number of
carriers reporting flight delays, flight cancellations and
mishandled baggage data in November 2003 from November 2002, those
categories compare data only from October 2003 to November
2003.)
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