U.S. DOT Releases April 2017 Air Travel Consumer Report

The U.S. Department of Transportation today released its April 2017 Air Travel Consumer Report, compiling air carrier data for the month of February 2017.  The April report contains denied boarding (oversales) data for the October-December 2016 quarter, as airlines report denied boarding numbers by quarter.  Denied boarding numbers for the January-March quarter will be available in the May Air Travel Consumer Report.

The reporting carriers canceled 1.5 percent of their scheduled domestic flights in February 2017, an improvement over both the 1.6 percent cancellation rate posted in February 2016 and the 2.0 percent rate in January 2017.

The reporting carriers posted an on-time arrival rate of 82.6 percent in February 2017, down from the 83.6 percent on-time rate in February 2016, but up from the 76.0 percent mark in January 2017.
The consumer report also includes data on tarmac delays, chronically delayed flights, and the causes of flight delays filed with the Department’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) by the reporting carriers.  In addition, the consumer report contains a record of aviation service complaints filed with DOT’s Aviation Consumer Protection Division by consumers regarding a range of issues including flight problems, baggage, reservation and ticketing, refunds, customer service, disability access, and discrimination.  

The report also includes statistics on mishandled baggage reports filed by consumers with the reporting carriers, and information about the total number of animals that died, were injured, or were lost during air transport in February 2017, as filed by the air carriers with the Aviation Consumer Protection Division.

The Department has also launched a new airline passenger microsite in order to make it easy for travelers to understand their rights.

(Source: DOT news release)

FMI: www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/flights-and-rights