Complaints about
airline service filed with the U.S. Department of Transportation
(DOT) dropped in August, according to the department's monthly Air
Travel Consumer Report released Wednesday. DOT's Aviation Consumer
Protection Division received 517 complaints from consumers about
airline service in August, down 29.9 percent from the 737
complaints filed in August 2002 and 16.1 percent fewer than the
total of 616 received in July 2003.
The monthly report also includes data on flight delays and
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 17 carriers reporting on-time
performance posted a 79.0 percent on-time arrival record in August,
down slightly from July's 79.7 percent rate. SkyWest Airlines had
the highest on-time rate in August at 89.8 percent, followed by
Southwest Airlines in second place at 85.8 and United Airlines
third at 81.7. Atlantic Southeast Airlines had the lowest
percentage of on-time flights at 68.1 percent, with AirTran Airways
ranked 16th at 68.8 percent and US Airways 15th at 71.7
percent.
The report contains a list of regularly scheduled flights that
were late at least 80 percent of the time. In August, the most
frequently delayed flight was AirTran flight 234 from Atlanta to
Newport News, VA, late 93.55 percent of the time. Atlantic
Southeast flight 4153 from Atlanta to Gainesville, FL, was the
second most-delayed flight, arriving late 88.00 percent of the
time, and Atlantic Southeast flight 4142 from Atlanta to Fort
Walton Beach, FL, was third most-delayed at 86.67 percent.
The report contains a note reminding consumers that flight
delays can be caused by a variety of factors. The carriers that
report on-time flight information have been required to also report
the causes of delays and cancellations beginning with June's data.
Once the Transportation Security Administration, DOT's Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) and BTS complete testing and
validating this causal information to ensure its accuracy, the data
will be included in the Air Travel Consumer Report.
These official on-time data are distinct from the data compiled
by the FAA, which records delays while aircraft are under control
of the air traffic control system (i.e., from actual gate pushback
time to actual gate arrival time). FAA data cover some of the
delays caused by weather and volume, for example, but do not cover
delays at the gate such as those caused by aircraft mechanical
problems, crew unavailability or many weather conditions affecting
flights before they depart. The FAA data are useful for managing
the air traffic control system but are not designed to measure
airline passenger delays.
Flight Cancellations
The consumer report
also includes BTS data on the number of domestic flights canceled
by the reporting carriers. In August, the carriers canceled 1.6
percent of their scheduled domestic flights, up slightly from
July's 1.4 percent cancellation rate.
- Atlantic Coast Airlines had the highest percentage of canceled
flights in August at 3.3 percent, followed by
- American Eagle Airlines at 3.2 percent and
- ExpressJet Airlines at 2.8 percent.
- JetBlue Airways had the lowest percentage of cancellations at
0.4 percent, followed by
- Continental Airlines at 0.6 percent and
- America West Airlines at 0.7 percent.
Mishandled Baggage
The 17 U.S. carriers reporting flight delays and mishandled
baggage data posted a mishandled baggage rate of 4.61 reports per
1,000 passengers in August, higher than July's 4.37 rate.
Complaints About Treatment of Disabled Passengers
The report also contains
a tabulation of complaints filed with DOT in August against
specific airlines regarding the treatment of passengers with
disabilities. The department received a total of 39
disability-related complaints in August, 13.3 percent fewer than
the total of 45 filed in August 2002 but 11.4 percent more than the
35 recorded in July 2003.
Complaints About Discrimination
In August, the department received eight complaints alleging
discrimination by airlines due to factors other than disability -
such as race, religion, national origin or sex - down 42.9 percent
from the total of 14 recorded in August 2002 and one-third fewer
than the 12 received in July 2003.
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, DC 20590, by e-mail
at airconsumer@ost.dot.gov,
by voice mail at (202) 366-2220 or by TTY at (202) 366-0511.
The department reminds consumers who want on-time performance
data for specific flights to call their airline ticket offices or
their travel agents. This information is available on the
computerized reservation systems used by these agents.