Fewer Cases Of Bumpings, Lost Bags Reported
Flights operated by the
nation’s largest airlines arrived on time at a higher rate
this past June than in June of last year, but at a lower rate than
in May 2008, according to the Air Travel Consumer Report released
Tuesday 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 70.8
percent in June, higher than June 2007’s 68.1 percent but
down from May 2008’s 79.0 percent.
Once again, Hawaiian Airlines posted the best on-time
performance, with a 92 percent favorable performance rating;
American Airlines reported the worst performance, with a mere 58.8
percent of its flights arriving on-time.
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, airline bumping and
consumer service, disability and discrimination complaints received
by DOT’s Aviation Consumer Protection Division.
The consumer report includes BTS data on the number of domestic
flights canceled by the reporting carriers. In June, the carriers
canceled 1.8 percent of their scheduled domestic flights, lower
than the 2.7 percent cancellation rate of June 2007 but higher than
the 1.0 cancellation rate posted in May 2008. Of the reporting
airlines, Mesa cancelled the most flights, while Frontier scrapped
the fewest.
In June, the carriers filing on-time performance data reported
that 10.16 percent of their flights were delayed by aviation system
delays, compared to 7.73 percent in May; 8.86 percent by
late-arriving aircraft, compared to 6.39 percent in May; 6.78
percent by factors within the airline’s control, such as
maintenance or crew problems, compared to 5.12 percent in May; 1.14
percent by extreme weather, compared to 0.53 percent in May; and
0.05 percent for security reasons, compared to 0.04 percent in
May.
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 June, 47.21 percent of late flights were delayed by weather, up
5.00 percent from June 2007, when 44.96 percent of late flights
were delayed by weather, and up 7.17 percent from May when 44.05
percent of late flights were delayed by weather.
The US carriers reporting flight delays and mishandled baggage
data posted a mishandled baggage rate of 5.15 reports per 1,000
passengers in June, an improvement over both June 2007’s rate
of 7.94 and May 2008’s 5.94 rate. For the first six months of
this year, the carriers posted a mishandled baggage rate of 5.82
per 1,000 passengers, down from the 7.36 rate for the first six
months of 2007.
The report also includes reports of involuntary denied boarding,
or bumping, for the second quarter and first six months of this
year from U.S. carriers who also report flight delay information.
These carriers posted a bumping rate of 1.00 per 10,000 passengers
for the quarter, down from the 1.23 rate for the second quarter of
2007.
For the first six months of this year, the carriers had a
bumping rate of 1.16 per 10,000 passengers, down from the rate of
1.34 rate posted during the first six months of
2007.
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