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Airline On-Time Performance Slips

Cancellations and Mishandled Bags Also Up in June

By Dan Schlossberg
ConsumerAffairs.com

August 7, 2007

The nation’s largest airlines recorded a lower rate of on-time flights and a higher rate of mishandled baggage and canceled flights this past June than during either this past May or the previous June, according to the Air Travel Consumer Report released by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

The report also shows that consumer complaints against air carriers rose in June compared to the same previous months.

According to information filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), the 20 carriers reporting on-time performance recorded an overall on-time arrival rate of 68.1 percent in June, down from both June 2006’s 72.8 percent and May 2007’s 77.9 percent.

The data also show that these carriers canceled 2.7 percent of their domestic scheduled flights in June, up from both June 2006’s cancellation rate of 1.7 percent and May 2007’s 1.1 percent.

The 20 reporting carriers also posted a mishandled baggage rate of 7.92 reports per 1,000 passengers in June, higher than both June 2006’s 6.30 rate and May 2007’s 5.93 mark.

In addition, the Department received 1,094 complaints from consumers in June about airline service, up 43.4 percent from the 763 complaints received in June 2006 and 17.8 percent more than the total of 929 filed in May 2007.

Causes of Flight Delays

The carriers filing on-time performance data reported that 9.13 percent of their June flights were delayed by aviation system delays; 10.04 percent by late-arriving aircraft; 8.13 percent by factors within the airline’s control, such as maintenance or crew problems; 1.42 percent by extreme weather; and 0.09 percent for security reasons, compared to 0.06 percent in May.

Mishandled Baggage

During the first six months of this year, the U.S. carriers reporting flight delay and mishandled baggage data posted a mishandled baggage rate of 7.34 reports per 1,000 passengers, up from the 5.86 mishandled baggage rate recorded during January-June 2006.

Bumping

The report also includes airline reports of involuntary denied boarding, or bumping, for the second quarter and first six months of this year. Of the 20 U.S. carriers who report on-time performance and mishandled baggage data, 18 are also required to report their bumping records to DOT.

These 18 carriers posted a bumping rate of 1.22 per 10,000 passengers for the second quarter, up from the 1.12 rate for the second quarter of 2006 but down from the 1.45 bumping rate for the first quarter of this year.

For the first six months of this year, the carriers posted a bumping rate of 1.33 per 10,000 passengers, up from the 1.21 rate recorded in January-June 2006.

Complaints

During the first six months of this year, the Department received 6,151 complaints from consumers about airline service, up 47.2 percent from the 4,178 complaints recorded during January-June 2006.

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