US airline OTP rate improves on month-on-month basis in Aug-2011; down on year-on-year basis

US Department of Transportation (DoT) stated (13-Oct-2011) information filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) shows the 16 carriers reporting OTP recorded an overall on-time arrival rate of 79.3% in Aug-2011, down from the 81.7% rate of Aug-2010 but up from the 77.8% recorded in Jul-2011. The highest OTP arrival rates were achieved by Hawaiian Airlines (94.8%), Alaska Airlines (90.8%) and Southwest Airlines (83.4%) and the lowest by JetBlue Airways (61.6%), US Airways (74.2%) and Continental Airlines (74.3%). The highest rates of cancelled services were reported by JetBlue Airways (7.0%), American Eagle (4.5%) and ExpressJet Airlines (3.9%) and the lowest by Hawaiian Airlines (0.1%), Alaska Airlines (0.5%) and Frontier Airlines (0.6%).

Other details in the DoT's Aviation Consumer Protection Details include:

• Tarmac delays: The carriers filing data reported three tarmac delays of more than three hours in Aug-2011, compared to one in both Aug-2010 and Jul-2011;
• Cancellations: During Aug-2011, the carriers cancelled 2.5% of their scheduled domestic flights, up from both Aug-2010's 1.0% cancellation rate and Jul-2011's 1.7%;
• Chronically delayed flights: At the end of Aug-2011, there were 10 flights that were chronically delayed - more than 30 minutes late more than 50% of the time - for three consecutive months. There were an additional 71 flights that were chronically delayed for two consecutive months. There were no chronically delayed flights for four consecutive months or more;
• Causes of flight delays: The carriers reported that 5.19% of their flights were delayed by aviation system delays; 6.63% by late-arriving aircraft; 5.2% by factors within the airline's control, such as maintenance or crew problems; 0.70% by extreme weather; and 0.04% for security reasons. In Aug-2011, 39.47% of late flights were delayed by weather;
• Mishandled baggage: The carriers posted a mishandled baggage rate of 3.44 reports per 1000 passengers in Aug-2011, up from Aug-2010's rate of 3.42 but down from Jul-2011's rate of 3.71;
• Complaints about airline service: In Aug-2011, 1471 complaints were received about airline service from consumers, up 18.1% from Aug-2011 levels and up 10.3% from Jul-201 reports;
• Complaints about treatment of disabled passengers: The Department received a total of 47 disability-related complaints in Aug-2011;
• Complaints about discrimination: The Department received 12 complaints alleging discrimination by airlines due to factors other than disability in Aug-2011. [more - original PR]