In addition to the tarmac delay rule, DOT has issued other rules during the Obama Administration that have, well, encouraged carriers to improve on-time performance.
The biggest airlines in the U.S. posted records for the first half of 2012 for on-time performance, fewest cancellations and tarmac delays, as well as the lowest mishandled baggage rates. According to the Air Travel Consumer Report from the U.S. Department of Transportation, the 15 largest U.S. airlines posted an 83.7% on-time arrival rate during the first six months of 2012, the highest mark for any January-June period in the 18 years the Department has collected comparable data.
This is a clear example of government regulation working in what was a failed marketplace, although the anti “no solution” ideologues and government haters will never admit it. Prior to DOT’s intervention during the past several years, there was no incentive for airlines to improve performance as low cost and careless operators – in the aviation version of Gresham’s law – hurt carriers that were spending the time, money and workers to keep service at higher levels.
“Our airline consumer rules and our vigorous oversight of the aviation industry are protecting America’s air travelers,” said Ray LaHood, Secretary of Transpiration.
Regulations work for airlines because it increases customer satisfaction and threatens “fly by night” operators.
The previous on-time high was 82.8% in January-June 2003. A 1.1% cancellation rate for the six-month period also was the lowest rate for the past 18 years, with the previous low of 1.3% set in January-June 2002.
In addition, there were only four tarmac delays longer than three hours on U.S. domestic flights between January and June this year. This is a direct result of the DOT’s rule, which took effect in April 2010, setting a three-hour limit for aircraft carrying passengers on domestic flights to sit on the tarmac. Exceptions to the time limits are allowed only for safety, security or air traffic control-related reasons.
There were 35 tarmac delays for domestic flights between January and June in 2011, the first full year the domestic tarmac delay limit was in effect. Consider, there were 586 tarmac delays of more than three hours between January and June of 2009, the year before the tarmac delay rule went into effect. Since August 2011, U.S. and foreign airlines operating international flights at U.S. airports have been subject to a four-hour tarmac delay limit.
The reporting carriers also posted their lowest rate of mishandled baggage for a January-June period since this data was first reported in September 1987. The record of 2.97 reports of mishandled baggage per 1,000 passengers improved on the previous January-June record low of 3.60 set last year.
In addition to the tarmac delay rule, DOT has issued other rules during the Obama Administration that have, well, encouraged carriers to improve on-time performance. These include a rule banning the continued operation of chronically delayed flights and a requirement that airlines post on their websites the on-time performance of their flights.
The report also includes data filed with the Department’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) by the reporting carriers on chronically delayed flights and the causes of flight delays. In addition, the report contains data on airline bumping and consumer service, disability, and discrimination complaints received by DOT’s Aviation Consumer Protection Division. In addition, the report includes reports of incidents involving pets traveling by air, as required to be filed by U.S. carriers.
At the end of June, 10 flights were chronically delayed – more than 30 minutes late more than 50% of the time – for two consecutive months. There were no chronically delayed flights for three consecutive months or more. A list of flights that were chronically delayed for a single month is available from BTS (www.bts.gov).
In June, the carriers filing reported that 4.82% of their flights were delayed by aviation system delays, compared to 4.75% in May; 6.98% by late-arriving aircraft, compared to 5.56% in May; 5.62% by factors within the airline’s control, such as maintenance or crew problems, compared to 4.59% in May; 0.50% by extreme weather, compared to 0.58% in May; and 0.04% for security reasons, compared to 0.03% in May.
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.
The 15 U.S. carriers who report denied boarding data posted a bumping rate of 1.05 per 10,000 passengers for the quarter, up from the 0.77 rate for the second quarter of 2011. For the first six months of this year, the carriers had a bumping rate of 0.98 per 10,000 passengers, up from the rate of 0.80 rate posted during the first six months of 2011.
In June, the Department received 1,653 complaints about airline service from consumers, up 46.5% from the 1,128 complaints filed in June 2011, and up 31.2% from the 1,260 received in May 2012. For the first six months of this year, passengers filed 6,721 complaints, up 24.0% from the 5,421 received during January-June 2011.
