DOT 1-03
Thursday, January 2, 2003
Contact: Bill Mosley
Tel.: (202) 366-5571
DOT 1-03
Thursday, January 2, 2003
Contact: Bill Mosley
Tel.: (202) 366-5571
The nation’s largest air carriers recorded fewer flight
delays and cancellations in November 2002 than
in November 2001 or October 2002,
according to the monthly Air Travel Consumer Report issued today by the U.S.
Department of Transportation (DOT).
Flight Delays
According to information filed with the department’s Bureau
of Transportation Statistics (BTS), the 10 largest U.S. carriers currently
required to report on-time performance posted an 85.2 percent on-time arrival
record in November, better than both November 2001’s 84.7 percent mark and
October 2002’s 84.2. US
Airways had the best on-time arrival rate in November at 88.7 percent, followed
by United Airlines at 87.9 and American Airlines at 87.6. American Eagle Airlines had the lowest percentage of on-time
flights in November at 79.3 percent, with Alaska Airlines ranked ninth at 80.2
and America West Airlines eighth at 80.6.
The monthly report normally contains a list of regularly
scheduled flights that were late at least 80 percent of the time.
During November 2002, however, no flights were late this frequently, and,
as a result, the list is blank. The
only previous reports in which this table contained no flights were those for
September 2002 and September 2001, with the latter report containing on-time
data only for Sept. 1-10 and therefore covering insufficient operations to
generate the table.
The report contains a note reminding consumers that flight
delays can be caused by a variety of factors.
The data on which this report is based do not identify the causes, only
the occurrence, of flight delays.
These official on-time data are distinct from the data
compiled by DOT’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which records delays
while aircraft are under control of the air traffic control system (i.e., from
actual gate pushback time to actual gate arrival time).
FAA data cover delays caused by weather and aircraft volume, for example,
but do not cover delays at the gate such as those caused by aircraft mechanical
problems, crew unavailability or many weather conditions affecting flights
before they depart. The FAA data are useful for managing the air traffic control
system but are not designed to measure airline passenger delays.
Flight
Cancellations
The consumer report also includes BTS data on the number of
domestic flights canceled by the reporting carriers. In November, the carriers canceled 0.9 percent of their
scheduled domestic flights, fewer than both November 2001’s 1.1 percent and
October’s 1.0 percent. Alaska had
the highest rate of canceled flights in November at 2.8 percent, followed by
American Eagle at 2.6 and Southwest Airlines at 1.1.
Continental Airlines had the lowest percentage of cancellations at 0.2
percent, followed by United at 0.4 and US Airways, also at 0.4 but a fraction of
a percentage point higher than United’s rate.
Mishandled
Baggage
In November, the 10 U.S. airlines required to file flight
delay and mishandled baggage data posted a mishandled baggage rate of 3.16
reports per 1,000 passengers, much better than November 2001’s rate of 3.75
but slightly higher than October’s 3.09.
Complaints
About Airline Service
The department received 519 complaints from consumers about
airline service in November, almost unchanged from both November 2001’s total
of 517 and October’s 518.
Complaints
About Treatment of Passengers With Disabilities
The report
also contains a tabulation of complaints filed with DOT in November against
specific airlines regarding the treatment of passengers with disabilities.
The department received a total of 31 disability-related complaints in
November, a 158 percent increase over the total of 12 recorded in November 2001,
but 42.6 percent fewer than the 54 filed in October.
Complaints
About Discrimination
Consumers registered five complaints in November alleging
discrimination by airlines due to factors other than disability – such as
race, religion, national origin or sex – 72.2 percent below the total of 18
filed in November 2001 and identical to the total of five complaints filed in
October.
Consumers
may file their complaints in writing with the Aviation Consumer Protection
Division, U.S. Department of Transportation, C-75, 400 7th St., S.W.,
Room 4107, Washington, D.C. 20590, by e-mail at airconsumer@ost.dot.gov, by
voice mail at (202) 366-2220 or by TTY at (202) 366-0511.
The
department reminded consumers who want on-time performance data for specific
flights to call their airline ticket offices or their travel agents.
This information is available on the computerized reservation systems
used by these agents. Detailed
flight delay information is also available on the BTS site on the World Wide Web
at http://www.bts.gov/ntda/oai/.
The
Air Travel Consumer Report can be found on DOT’s World Wide Web site at http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/
and is available in “pdf” and Microsoft Word format.
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