Thu, Jan 31, 2008
Study Shows It'll Be Close For "Worst Year Ever" Title
The US Department of Transportation
is set next week to release statistics on airline performance
during 2007. It's not clear if weather-related disruptions during
the holidays will pull 2007 down to be the worst on-time
performance in recorded history, or whether adjustments made by DOT
and the airlines in the final quarter managed to stave off that
dubious title.
To be fair, on-time statistics have only been kept by DOT since
1995. The worst year on record has been 2000, when US airlines
completed 73.5 percent of flights on time. Through November 2007,
for the year, airlines were just above that, at 74.23.
While we're waiting for the government numbers, Flightstats.com
is already out with its analysis of December. While the formula
used to calculate performance varies a little from DOT's,
Flightstats says just under 64 percent of flights were on time in
December -- a far cry from on-time ratings that hovered just under
80 percent over the preceding three months, helped by better
weather and a push by the federal government for airlines to boost
performance.
The company tells MSNBC that among the worst offenders for the
month were American, at 58.6 percent; United, at 55.18 percent; and
Midwest Air, which arrived on-time a measly 41.25 percent of the
time.
It will be difficult to make predictions for 2008 in
apples-to-apples terms. Airline mergers appear imminent, DOT plans
to cap flights at JFK starting in March, caps may also come to
Newark, and caps may be removed at Chicago O'Hare. It's unknown
what effect DOT's impact pricing initiative will have on delays,
and a significant economic downturn could reduce passenger
traffic.
New runways are scheduled to open at some of the nation's
busiest airports during 2008, including Washington Dulles,
O’Hare and Seattle-Tacoma.
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