US-based airlines improve on-time performance in July 2009

In July 2009, the on-time arrival rate of carriers based in the United States was the highest for a July in six years as airlines operated lesser number of flights because of the global economic recession.According to a report by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics of the United States Department of Transportation (DOT), 77.6% of all flights arrived on time, or within 14 minutes of schedule, in July 2009.

A flight is considered as ‘on time’ if it operates less than 15 minutes after the scheduled time shown in an airline’s computerized reservation system.

Of the 19 airlines which report their performance to the Department of Transportation, Hawaiian Airlines, as usual, topped the list, with 93.6% of its flights arriving on time.

Alaska Airlines came second, with an arrival rate of at 87.2%.

Southwest Airlines came 4^th with an 80.7% on-time performance.

Comair, a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, was the worst among the 19 carriers, with only 63.9% of its flights on-time, or within 14 minutes.

Atlantic Southeast Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of SkyWest, reported an on-time rate of 68.3%.

The on-time performance of AirTran Airways stood at 69.8% in July 2009.

American Airlines, based in Fort Worth, Texas, ranked 16^th with 72.2% of its flights arriving on time in July 2009– the 7^th successive month that the carrier has performed worse than the US aviation industry’s average.

The performance of US-based airlines in July 2009 at 77.6% was better than the 75.7% in July 2008 and was the best performance for a July since July 2003, when carriers reported 79.7% of their flights arriving within 14 minutes of schedule.

According to the Department of Transportation’s report released in Washington, airlines scheduled 580,134 United States-based flights in July 2009 – which was 8% lesser than the 627,931 flights scheduled in July 2008.

The report said that, up to now in 2009, 78.7% of flights arrived on time – the third highest rate since the United States government started keeping track of arrivals, according to the present format, in 1995.

The on-time arrival rate during the first 7 months of 2009 was also the highest since the arrival rate of 82.4% in 2003.

The three major airports in the New York City area, according to the Department of Transportation, were the most congested airports in the United States in July 2009 – with 68.1% of flights on time at John F Kennedy International Airport in New York; 67.5% at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey; and 66.3% of flights arriving on time at LaGuardia International Airport in New York.

In July 2009, the most frequently delayed trip was Northwest Airlines’ Flight 1266 – from Boston to Tampa – that was late 96.8% of the time.

The US aviation industry had, in July 2009, a mishandled baggage rate of 3.98% per 1,000 passengers – down from 4.87% per 1,000 passengers in July 2008, and from 4.17% per 1,000 passengers in June 2009.

The Department of Transportation received 827 complaints in July 2009, compared to 1,093 complaints in July 2008 and 747 complaints in June 2009.