But Airlines Did Better In March 2008 Than Month Before

When it comes to on-time flights for the nation's airlines -- and lack of same -- the US Department of Transportation would prefer consumers look at the glass as half-full, not half-empty. But passengers only want to know who's been drinking out of their glass.

On Wednesday, the DOT noted the rate of on-time flights for the largest US airlines in March 2008 was lower than in the same month last year... but higher than the rate recorded in February. According to the Air Travel Consumer Report, the 19 carriers reporting on-time performance recorded an overall on-time arrival rate of 71.6 percent in March, below March 2007’s 73.3 percent but better than February 2008’s abysmal 68.6 percent.

Performance figures often improve as temperatures get warmer, as they usually do from February to March in the US.

In March 2008, carriers canceled 2.6 percent of their scheduled domestic flights, the same rate recorded in March 2007 but down from February 2008's 3.6 percent. Reporting carriers said 8.56 percent of their flights were delayed by aviation system delays, compared to 9.36 percent in February; 8.87 percent by late-arriving aircraft, compared to 9.74 percent in February; 7.11 percent by factors within the airline’s control, such as maintenance or crew problems, the same percentage as in February; 0.93 percent by extreme weather, compared to 1.19 percent in February; and 0.07 percent for security reasons, compared to 0.05 percent in February.

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. Weather is also a factor in delays attributed to late-arriving aircraft, although airlines do not report specific causes in that category.  

The year-over-year decline in airline performance continued in the areas of mishandled baggage and complaints about quality of service.

Once again, Hawaiian Airlines led on-time performance, with 94.5 percent of its flights arriving within 15 minutes of scheduled times. US Airways was a distant second, at 79.1 percent. Airlines with the poorest showings included American Airlines (only 62 percent of flights arriving ontime,) and regional carriers Comair (66 percent) and American Eagle (66.4 percent... it should raise eyebrows at AMR that its regional subsidiary outperformed mainline in this regard -- Ed.)

American's flight 791 from LaGuardia to DFW was the most frequently delayed, arriving on time a scant 7.69 percent of the time. Curiously, Southwest Airlines -- often near the top of consumer rankings, and overall performance -- chalked up two of the worst performing flights in March 2008: Flight 274 from Las Vegas to Reno, and flight 50 from Dallas Love Field to Kansas City, both late 90 percent of the time.

American Eagle "led" in the number of cancelled flights, with 5.9 percent of its March schedule cancelled. American mainline was a close second, with 5.6 percent of its schedule axed for the month.

As ANN reported, the airline cancelled 200 flights on March 26 alone, in order to reinspect its fleet of MD-82 and MD-83 airliners for issues related to wiring harnesses. Two weeks later, the airline cancelled over 3,300 flights for the same problem; those numbers will hit American's figures in April.

By comparison, Frontier Airlines posted the best numbers in regards to cancelled flights, with 0.5 percent of its flights cancelled in March. Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines filled out the top three; both cancelled less than one percent of their flights.

FMI: www.bts.gov