Fewer Cases Of Bumpings, Lost Bags Reported

Flights operated by the nation’s largest airlines arrived on time at a higher rate this past June than in June of last year, but at a lower rate than in May 2008, according to the Air Travel Consumer Report released Tuesday 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 19 carriers reporting on-time performance recorded an overall on-time arrival rate of 70.8 percent in June, higher than June 2007’s 68.1 percent but down from May 2008’s 79.0 percent.

Once again, Hawaiian Airlines posted the best on-time performance, with a 92 percent favorable performance rating; American Airlines reported the worst performance, with a mere 58.8 percent of its flights arriving on-time.

The monthly report also includes data on flight cancellations and the causes of flight delays, as well as information on reports of mishandled baggage filed with the carriers, airline bumping and consumer service, disability and discrimination complaints received by DOT’s Aviation Consumer Protection Division.

The consumer report includes BTS data on the number of domestic flights canceled by the reporting carriers. In June, the carriers canceled 1.8 percent of their scheduled domestic flights, lower than the 2.7 percent cancellation rate of June 2007 but higher than the 1.0 cancellation rate posted in May 2008. Of the reporting airlines, Mesa cancelled the most flights, while Frontier scrapped the fewest.

In June, the carriers filing on-time performance data reported that 10.16 percent of their flights were delayed by aviation system delays, compared to 7.73 percent in May; 8.86 percent by late-arriving aircraft, compared to 6.39 percent in May; 6.78 percent by factors within the airline’s control, such as maintenance or crew problems, compared to 5.12 percent in May; 1.14 percent by extreme weather, compared to 0.53 percent in May; and 0.05 percent for security reasons, compared to 0.04 percent in May. 

Data collected by BTS also shows the percentage of late flights delayed by weather, including those reported in either the category of extreme weather or included in National Aviation System delays. In June, 47.21 percent of late flights were delayed by weather, up 5.00 percent from June 2007, when 44.96 percent of late flights were delayed by weather, and up 7.17 percent from May when 44.05 percent of late flights were delayed by weather.

The US carriers reporting flight delays and mishandled baggage data posted a mishandled baggage rate of 5.15 reports per 1,000 passengers in June, an improvement over both June 2007’s rate of 7.94 and May 2008’s 5.94 rate. For the first six months of this year, the carriers posted a mishandled baggage rate of 5.82 per 1,000 passengers, down from the 7.36 rate for the first six months of 2007. 

The report also includes reports of involuntary denied boarding, or bumping, for the second quarter and first six months of this year from U.S. carriers who also report flight delay information. These carriers posted a bumping rate of 1.00 per 10,000 passengers for the quarter, down from the 1.23 rate for the second quarter of 2007.

For the first six months of this year, the carriers had a bumping rate of 1.16 per 10,000 passengers, down from the rate of 1.34 rate posted during the first six months of 2007.  

FMI: www.bts.gov, http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov