On-Time Flights Slip Over Same Period Last Year

The nation's largest airlines recorded a rate of on-time flights in August that was higher than in July ,but down from the rate posted in August 2006, 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 20 carriers reporting on-time performance recorded an overall on-time arrival rate of 71.7 percent in August, down from August 2006's 75.8 record but an improvement over July 2007’s 69.8 percent.

As for cancellations, BTS data shows carriers cancelled nearly two percent (1.9) of their scheduled domestic flights in August, up from 1.6 percent over the same period last year. Again, however, that mark is better than the 2.1 percent of cancelled flights for July 2007.

According to the airlines, 8.06 percent of their August flights were delayed by aviation system delays, compared to 8.45 percent in July 2007; 9.27 percent by late-arriving aircraft, compared to 9.87 percent in July; 7.67 percent by factors within the airline’s control, such as maintenance or crew problems, compared to 8.05 percent in July; 1.02 percent by extreme weather, compared to 1.31 in July; and 0.08 percent for security reasons, compared to 0.10 percent in July.

Weather is a factor in both the extreme-weather category and the aviation-system category, and is ancillary to delays involving late-arriving planes... although airlines do not delve into specifics in that category.

Below are reported best and worst arrival rates, including breakdowns by carrier:

Highest On-Time Arrival Rates

1. Aloha Airlines – 97.0 percent
2. Hawaiian Airlines – 93.6 percent
3. Southwest Airlines – 77.7 percent

Lowest On-Time Arrival Rates 

1. Atlantic Southeast Airlines – 55.0 percent
2. United Airlines – 66.2 percent
3. Alaska Airlines – 67.1 percent 

Most Frequently Delayed Flights

1. Atlantic Southeast Airlines flight 4361 from Alexandria, LA to Atlanta – late 100 percent of the time
2. Atlantic Southeast Airlines flight 4530 from Atlanta to Hilton Head, SC – late 100 percent of the time
3. ExpressJet Airlines flight 2185 from Nantucket, MA to Newark, NJ – late 96.77 percent of the time
4. SkyWest Airlines flight 4020 from Salt Lake City to Memphis, TN – late 96.43 percent of the time
5. Atlantic Southeast Airlines flight 4178 from Atlanta to Bristol/Johnson City/Kingsport, TN – late 96.30 percent of the time

Highest Rates of Canceled Flights

1. Atlantic Southeast Airlines – 4.0 percent
2. Mesa Airlines – 3.9 percent
3. Pinnacle Airlines – 3.8 percent 

Lowest Rates of Canceled Flights

1. Frontier Airlines – 0.2 percent
2. Aloha Airlines  – 0.2 percent
3. Southwest Airlines – 0.5 percent

One area of improvement was reported incidents of lost baggage. There were 7.55 reports of lost bags per 1,000 passengers in August 2007, an improvement over both the August 2006 rate of 8.10, and July's 7.93 mark. In less rosy news, six pets died while traveling via the airlines in August, and one was lost. That's up from six reported incidents in July 2007.

Lastly, the DOT notes it received a staggering 1,634 complaints from customers about airline service, a whopping 89.1 percent increase over the same period in 2006. Again, however, that's an improvement from July of this year, when the DOT received 1,717 complaints of shoddy treatment by the airlines.

FMI: www.dot.gov