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Tuesday, October 12, 2010 – The nation’s largest airlines reported only one flight in August with a tarmac
delay of more than three hours, compared to 66 flights in August 2009, with no
change in the rate of canceled flights, according to the Air Travel Consumer
Report released today by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

Data filed with
the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) showed the only tarmac delay
longer than three hours reported in August by the 18 airlines that file on-time
performance with DOT involved a United Airlines flight departing the San Juan
airport on Aug. 5 that was diverted.  August was the fourth full month of
data since the new aviation consumer rule went into effect on April 29. 
There were only eight total tarmac delays of more than three hours from May
through August this year, compared to 529 during the same four-month period of
2009.  BTS is a part of DOT’s Research and Innovative Technology
Administration (RITA).

The largest
carriers canceled 1.0 percent of their scheduled domestic flights in August,
matching the 1.0 percent cancellation rate of August 2009.  They posted a
1.4 percent cancellation rate in July 2010.

See the DOT press release press release
for Secretary Ray LaHood’s statement.

The new tarmac
delay rule prohibits U.S. airlines operating domestic flights from permitting
an aircraft to remain on the tarmac for more than three hours without deplaning
passengers, with exceptions allowed only for safety or security or if air traffic
control advises the pilot in command that returning to the terminal would
disrupt airport operations.  The Department will investigate tarmac delays
that exceed this limit.

The monthly
report also includes data on on-time performance, chronically delayed flights,
flight cancellations and the causes of flight delays filed with the Department by
the reporting carriers.  In addition, it has information on airline
bumping, reports of mishandled baggage filed by consumers with the carriers,
and consumer service, disability and discrimination complaints received by
DOT’s Aviation Consumer Protection Division.  This report also includes
reports of incidents involving pets traveling by air, as required to be filed
by U.S. carriers.

On-time
Performance

The reporting carriers recorded an overall on-time arrival
rate of 81.7 percent in August, up from both the 79.7 percent on-time rate of August
2009 and July 2010’s 76.7 percent. 

Tarmac Delays

In August, the carriers filing
on-time performance data reported that .0400 percent of their scheduled flights
had tarmac delays of two hours or more, down from .1030 percent in July. 
There was one flight with a tarmac delay of more than three hours in August. 

Chronically Delayed Flights

At the end of August, there were four flights that were
chronically delayed – more than 30 minutes late more than 50 percent of the
time – for three consecutive months.  There were an additional 41 flights
that were chronically delayed for two consecutive months.  There were no
chronically delayed flights for four consecutive months or more.  A list
of flights that were chronically delayed for a single month is available from BTS (www.bts.gov).

Causes of Flight Delays

In August, the carriers filing
on-time performance data reported that 5.07 percent of their flights were
delayed by aviation system delays, compared to 6.21 percent in July; 6.42
percent by late-arriving aircraft, compared to 8.13 percent in July; 5.16 percent
by factors within the airline’s control, such as maintenance or crew problems, compared
to 6.37 percent in July; 0.46 percent by extreme weather, compared to 0.79
percent in July; and 0.04 percent for security reasons, compared to 0.05
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.

Data
collected by BTS also shows the percentage of late flights delayed by weather,
including those reported in either the category of extreme weather or included
in National Aviation System delays. In August, 35.07 percent of late flights
were delayed by weather, down 10.70 percent from August 2009, when 39.27
percent of late flights were delayed by weather, and down 6.75 percent from
July when 37.61 percent of late flights were delayed by weather.

Detailed information on flight
delays and their causes is available on the BTS site on the World Wide Web at http://www.bts.gov.

Mishandled Baggage

The U.S.
carriers reporting flight delays and mishandled baggage data posted a
mishandled baggage rate of 3.50 reports per 1,000 passengers in August, an
improvement over both August 2009’s rate of 4.11 and July 2010’s 3.79 rate.

Incidents Involving
Pets

In August, carriers reported one incident
involving the loss, death or injury of pets while traveling by air, down from
both the three reports filed in August 2009 and eight in July 2010. August’s incident involved the injury of a
pet.

Complaints
About Airline Service

In August, the Department received 1,200
complaints about airline service from consumers, up 34.7 percent from the 891
complaints filed in August 2009 and up 9.7 percent from the 1,094 received in July
2010.

Complaints About Treatment of Disabled
Passengers

The report also
contains a tabulation of complaints filed with DOT in August against airlines
regarding the treatment of passengers with disabilities. The Department received a total of 71
disability-related complaints in August, up from the total of 50 filed in
August 2009 and the 56 complaints received in July 2010.

Complaints
About Discrimination

In
August, the Department received 17 complaints alleging discrimination by
airlines due to factors other than disability – such as race, religion,
national origin or sex – up from the total of 16 recorded in August 2009 and 12
recorded in July 2010.

Consumers may
file their complaints in writing with the Aviation Consumer Protection
Division, U.S. Department of Transportation, C-75, W96-432,


1200 New Jersey Ave. SE,

Washington,

DC

20590;
by voice mail at (202) 366-2220 or by TTY at (202) 366-0511; or on the web at http://airconsumer.dot.gov.

Consumers who
want on-time performance data for specific flights should call their airline’s reservation
number or their travel agent. 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.dot.gov. It is available in "pdf" and Microsoft Word
format.

Air Travel Consumer Report August 2010
Key On-Time Performance and Flight Cancellation Statistics

Based on Data Filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics by the 18 Reporting Carriers

81.7 percent on-time arrivals

Highest On-Time
Arrival Rates

1. Hawaiian
Airlines – 95.6 percent

2. Alaska
Airlines – 88.7 percent

3. Continental
Airlines – 87.1 percent

Lowest On-Time
Arrival Rates

1. Comair
– 76.4 percent

2. JetBlue
Airways – 77.1 percent

3. Delta
Air Lines – 77.4 percent

Flights with Longest Tarmac
Delays

1. United
Airlines flight 700 from San Juan to Washington Dulles, 8/5/10 – delayed
on tarmac 200 minutes

(There was only one flight with a tarmac delay of more than
three hours in August)

Highest Rates of
Canceled Flights

1. Pinnacle
Airlines – 2.5 percent

2. Comair
– 2.1 percent

3. Delta
Air Lines – 1.6 percent

Lowest Rates of Canceled Flights

1. Hawaiian
Airlines – 0.1 percent

2. Frontier
Airlines – 0.1 percent

3. Continental
Airlines – 0.1 percent

SRC: http://www.bts.gov/press_releases/2010/dot186_10/html/dot186_10.html