Flight Delays, Mishandled Bags, Consumer Complaints Increase in 2007
PDF
![](/images/spacer.gif) |
Contact |
DOT 17-08
Bill Mosley
202-366-4570 |
|
Tuesday,
February 5, 2008 -
U.S. airlines experienced a lower rate of on-time flights and more reports of
mishandled baggage last year than in 2006, and passengers filed more complaints
with the government about airline service than they did the previous year, according
to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Air Travel Consumer Report
which was issued today.
According
to information filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), a part
of DOT’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), the 20
airlines reporting on-time performance with DOT recorded an on-time arrival
rate of 73.4 percent in 2007, down from their 75.4 percent mark in 2006. These carriers recorded a rate of 7.03
reports of mishandled baggage per 1,000 passengers last year, up from 2006’s
rate of 6.73. In addition, consumers
filed 13,168 complaints about airline service with the Department, 58.2 percent
more than the 8,325 filed in 2006.
The monthly report also includes
data on the causes of flight delays, as well as information on flight cancellations
and on consumer disability and discrimination complaints received by DOT’s
Aviation Consumer Protection Division. This report also includes data on airline reports of oversales
(“bumping”) during the fourth quarter and January-December 2007, as well as
reports required to be filed by U.S. carriers of incidents involving pets traveling by air.
December Flight Delays
According to information filed
with BTS, the carriers reporting on-time performance posted a 64.3 percent
on-time arrival record in December, down from both December 2006’s 70.8 and
November 2007’s 80.0 percent marks.
Causes of Flight Delays
In December, the carriers filing
on-time performance data reported that 10.41 percent of their flights were
delayed by aviation system delays, compared to 6.77 percent in November; 10.89
percent by late-arriving aircraft, compared to 6.07 percent in November; 9.15
percent by factors within the airline’s control, such as maintenance or crew
problems, compared to 5.39 percent in November; 1.38 percent by extreme
weather, compared to 0.51 percent in November; and 0.08 percent for security
reasons, compared to 0.04 percent in November. Weather is a factor in both the extreme-weather category and the aviation-system
category. This includes delays due to the re-routing of flights by DOT’s
Federal Aviation Administration in consultation with the carriers involved. Weather is also a factor in delays attributed
to late-arriving aircraft, although airlines do not report specific causes in
that category.
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 December, 43.57 percent of late flights
were delayed by weather, up 12.55 percent from December 2006, when 38.71
percent of late flights were delayed by weather, and up 15.20 percent from
November when 37.82 percent of late flights were delayed by weather.
Detailed information
on flight delays and their causes is available on the BTS site on the World
Wide Web at http://www.bts.gov.
December Flight Cancellations
The consumer report also includes
BTS data on the number of domestic flights canceled by the reporting
carriers. In December, the carriers
canceled 3.5 percent of their scheduled domestic flights, up from both December
2006’s 3.0 percent rate and November 2007’s 1.0 percent mark.
Mishandled Baggage in December
The U.S. carriers reporting flight delays and mishandled baggage data posted a
mishandled baggage rate of 9.01 reports per 1,000 passengers in December, up
from both December 2006’s rate of 8.93 and November 2007’s 4.89 rate.
Bumping
The report also
includes airline reports of involuntary denied boarding, or bumping, for 2007
and the fourth quarter of last year. In
2007, the U.S. carriers that report on-time performance,
mishandled baggage data and bumping totals had a bumping rate of 1.12 per 10,000
passengers, up from the 1.00 rate for 2006. For the fourth quarter of 2007, the carriers recorded a bumping rate of
0.82 per 10,000 passengers, down from the 0.88 rate recorded during the fourth
quarter of 2006.
Incidents
Involving Pets
In December, carriers reported one incident
involving pets while traveling by air, down from eight incidents in
November. The December incident involved
an injured pet.
December Complaints
About Airline Service
In December, the department received 849
complaints about airline service from consumers, up 40 percent from the 607
complaints filed in December 2006 and up 5.1 percent from the total of 808
received in November 2007.
Complaints About Treatment of Disabled
Passengers
The report also
contains a tabulation of complaints filed with DOT in December and January-December
2007 against specific airlines regarding the treatment of passengers with
disabilities. The Department received a
total of 18 disability-related complaints in December, down 37.9 percent from
the total of 29 filed in December 2006 and 53.8 percent fewer than the 39 complaints
filed in November 2006. For all of last
year, the Department received 480 disability-related complaints, an increase of
11.6 percent from the total of 430 received in 2006.
Complaints
About Discrimination
In December,
the Department received two complaints alleging discrimination by airlines due
to factors other than disability – such as race, religion, national origin or
sex – down from both the totals of nine received in December 2006 and three
filed in November 2007. For all of last year,
the department received 99 discrimination complaints, down 13.2 percent from
the 114 complaints received in 2006.
Consumers may
file their complaints in writing with the Aviation Consumer Protection
Division, U.S. Department of Transportation, C-75, W96-432, 1200
New Jersey Ave. SE, Washington, DC
20590; by voice mail at (202)
366-2220 or by TTY at (202) 366-0511; or on the web at http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov.
Consumers who
want on-time performance data for specific flights should call their airline
ticket offices or their travel agents. This information is available on the computerized reservation systems
used by these agents.
The Air Travel
Consumer Report can be found on DOT’s World Wide Web site at http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov. It is available in “pdf” and Microsoft Word
format.
Air Travel Consumer Report December 2007
Key On-Time Performance and Flight Cancellation Statistics
Based on Data Filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics by the 20 Reporting Carrier
Overall
64.3 percent on-time arrivals
Highest On-Time
Arrival Rates
1. Aloha
Airlines – 93.0 percent
2. Hawaiian
Airlines – 92.0 percent
3. US
Airways – 74.5 percent
Lowest On-Time
Arrival Rates
1. American
Eagle Airlines – 53.6 percent
2. Pinnacle
Airlines – 54.6 percent
3. United
Airlines – 54.8 percent
Most Frequently
Delayed Flights
1. ExpressJet
Airlines flight 7758 from Los Angeles
to Seattle – late 100 percent of
the time
1. ExpressJet
Airlines flight 7824 from Los Angeles
to Spokane, WA
– late 100 percent of the time
3. United
Airlines flight 789 from Chicago O’Hare to Minneapolis/St. Paul – late 96.43 percent
of the time
4. Comair
flight 5597 from Boston to Philadelphia
– late 95.45 percent of the time
4. Comair
flight 5587 from Boston to Philadelphia– late 95.45 percent of the time
Highest Rates of
Canceled Flights
1. American
Eagle Airlines – 8.3 percent
2. Pinnacle
Airlines – 7.9 percent
3. Mesa Airlines
– 7.1 percent
Lowest Rates of Canceled Flights
1. Frontier
Airlines – 1.0 percent
2. Hawaiian
Airlines – 1.1 percent
3. Aloha
Airlines – 1.3 percent
|