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Airline on-time performance continues to improve in May
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The nation’s airlines operated fewer flights in May than in previous years in an effort to stem their losses, but at the same time having fewer flights in the system led to more flights operating on schedule. Overall the number of flights offered was reduced domestically by about 6 percent, initially in response to higher fuel prices, with further cutbacks as a result of the recession.
There was more good news for travelers in May as there were fewer canceled flights and fewer reports of mishandled baggage. With fewer flights and fewer cancellations it is easier for carriers to maintain their published schedule. An on-time arrival by Department of Transportation (DOT) definition is a flight that arrives within 15 minutes of the scheduled arrival time. The July and earlier reports are available on the Department of Transportation website.
The top performing airline once again was Hawaiian Airlines with 90.3 percent of their flights arriving according to plan. Among airlines serving the Twin Cities, Northwest AirLink regional carrier Pinnacle came in third at with 86.8 percent of their flights arriving on-time, followed by Alaska Airlines (4th) at 85.7 percent, Southwest (5th) at 83.7 percent, Continental (6th) with 83.5 percent and Northwest (7th) at 82.9 percent. Delta Airlines was in 14th place for the month with just 77.4 percent of their flights arriving on schedule, but that was better than the performance of two of Delta’s regional carrier partners, Atlantic Southeast and Comair. Their on-time arrival percentages were 70.8 and 65.7 respectively.
In May overall, 80.5 percent of flights arrival on time, as compared to 79 percent for the same month last year. April of this year saw a combined on-time performance of 79.1 percent.
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