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DOT 184-04
Contact: Bill Mosley, Tel.: (202) 366-4570
Tuesday, October 5, 2004
Flight Delays in August Decrease From Previous Month
The nation’s largest airlines experienced better on-time performance in August
than in July this year, although August’s rate of delays was higher than those a
year ago, according to the Air Travel Consumer Report released today by the U.S.
Department of Transportation (DOT).
According to information filed with the department’s Bureau of Transportation
Statistics (BTS), the 19 carriers reporting on-time performance recorded an
overall on-time arrival rate of 78.3 percent in August. This represented an
improvement over July’s 75.9 percent on-time rate, but was still below August
2003’s rate of 79.0 percent.
The monthly report also includes data on the causes of flight delays, as well as
information on flight cancellations, reports of mishandled baggage filed with
the carriers, and consumer service, disability and discrimination complaints
received by DOT’s Aviation Consumer Protection Division.
Causes of Flight Delays
The carriers filing on-time performance reported that 7.28 percent of their
August flights were delayed by aviation system delays, compared to 8.06 percent
in July; 6.31 percent by late-arriving aircraft, compared to 6.97 percent in
July; 5.18 percent by factors within the airline’s control, such as maintenance
or crew problems, compared to 5.96 percent in July; 1.06 percent by extreme
weather, compared to 1.08 percent in July; and 0.06 percent for security
reasons, compared to 0.07 percent in July. 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. Airlines first began reporting causes of delays in June
2003.
Detailed information on flight delays and their causes is available on the BTS
site on the World Wide Web at http://www.bts.gov.
Flight Cancellations
The consumer report also includes BTS data on the number of domestic flights
canceled by the reporting carriers. In August, the carriers canceled 1.6 percent
of their scheduled domestic flights, the same percentage as in both August 2003
and July 2004.
Mishandled Baggage
The U.S. carriers reporting flight delay and mishandled baggage data posted a
mishandled baggage rate of 4.81 reports per 1,000 passengers in August, higher
than August 2003’s 4.61 rate but an improvement over July 2004’s 4.99.
Complaints About Airline Service
In August, the department received 791 complaints from consumers about airline
service, 52.3 percent more than the total of 518 received in August 2003 and
27.6 percent more than the 620 filed in July 2004.
Complaints About Treatment of Disabled Passengers
The report also contains a tabulation of complaints filed with DOT in August
against specific airlines regarding the treatment of passengers with
disabilities. The department received a total of 50 disability-related
complaints in August, 25 percent more than the 40 received in August 2003 but 18
percent fewer than the total of 61 filed in July 2004.
Complaints About Discrimination
In August, the department received eight complaints alleging discrimination by
airlines due to factors other than disability – such as race, religion, national
origin or sex – identical to the total received in August 2003 and 63.6 percent
fewer than the total of 22 received in July 2004.
Consumers may file their complaints in writing with the Aviation Consumer
Protection Division, U.S. Department of Transportation, C-75, Room 4107, 400 7th
St., S.W., Washington, DC 20590; by e-mail at
airconsumer@ost.dot.gov; by voice
mail at (202) 366-2220 or by TTY at (202) 366-0511.
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.
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Facts
AIR TRAVEL CONSUMER REPORT
August 2004
KEY ON-TIME PERFORMANCE AND FLIGHT CANCELLATION STATISTICS
Based on Data Filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics
by the 19 Reporting Carriers
Overall
78.3 percent on-time arrivals
Highest On-Time Arrival Rates
1. Hawaiian Airlines – 95.5 percent
2. SkyWest Airlines – 86.2 percent
3. Continental Airlines – 81.3 percent
Lowest On-Time Arrival Rates
1. American Airlines – 73.5 percent
2. American Eagle Airlines – 74.0 percent
3. America West Airlines – 74.9 percent
Most Frequently Delayed Flights
1. ExpressJet Airlines flight 3431 from Washington Dulles to Newark, NJ – late
93.55 percent of the time
2. Southwest Airlines flight 1165 from Chicago Midway to Albuquerque, NM – late
92.59 percent of the time
3. Comair flight 5044 from Orlando, FL to Raleigh/Durham, NC – late 90.32
percent of the time
4. ExpressJet Airlines flight 2383 from Burlington, VT to Newark, NJ – late
88.89 percent of the time
5. Delta Air Lines flight 1178 from New York JFK to Seattle – late 87.10 percent
of the time
5. Southwest flight 2220 from Phoenix to Los Angeles – late 87.10 percent of the
time
5. Southwest flight 1059 from Salt Lake City to Seattle – late 87.10 percent of
the time
Highest Rates of Canceled Flights
1. American Eagle Airlines – 3.5 percent
2. Atlantic Coast Airlines – 3.3 percent
3. US Airways – 2.4 percent
Lowest Rates of Canceled Flights
1. Hawaiian Airlines – 0.4 percent
2. Continental Airlines – 0.6 percent
3. JetBlue Airways – 0.6 percent
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