Rita Report: Long Tarmac Delays in September Down From Last Year

Tuesday, November 9, 2010 – The
nation’s largest airlines reported four flights in September with tarmac delays
of more than three hours, down from six flights in September 2009, with only a
slight increase 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 delays
longer than three hours reported in September by the 18 airlines that file
on-time performance data with DOT involved delays caused by weather in New York
and Philadelphia on Sept. 22. September was the fifth full month of data
since the new aviation consumer rule went into effect on April 29. There have
been only 12 total tarmac delays of more than three hours reported from May
through September this year, compared to 535 during the same five-month period
of 2009. BTS is a part of DOT’s Research and Innovative Technology
Administration (RITA).

The largest
carriers canceled 0.9 percent of their scheduled domestic flights in September,
up from the 0.6 percent cancellation rate of September 2009. They posted
a 1.0 percent cancellation rate in August 2010.

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 85.1 percent in September, down from the 86.2 percent on-time rate of September
2009 but up from August 2010’s 81.7 percent.

Tarmac Delays

In September, the carriers filing
on-time performance data reported that .0600 percent of their scheduled flights
had tarmac delays of two hours or more, up from .0400 percent in August.
There were four flights with tarmac delays of more than three hours in September.

Chronically Delayed Flights

At the end of September, there was only one flight that was
chronically delayed – more than 30 minutes late more than 50 percent 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).

Causes of Flight Delays

In September, the carriers filing
on-time performance data reported that 4.81 percent of their flights were
delayed by aviation system delays, compared to 5.07 percent in August; 4.60
percent by late-arriving aircraft, compared to 6.42 percent in August, 3.99 percent
by factors within the airline’s control, such as maintenance or crew problems, compared
to 5.16 percent in August; 0.41 percent by extreme weather, compared to 0.46 percent
in August; and 0.02 percent for security reasons, compared to 0.04 percent in August. 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 show 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 September, 34.53 percent of late flights were delayed by weather,
down 0.17 percent from September 2009, when 34.59 percent of late flights were
delayed by weather, and down 1.54 percent from August when 35.07 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 2.89 reports per 1,000 passengers in September, an
improvement over both September 2009’s rate of 3.06 and August 2010’s 3.50 rate. For the first nine months of this year, the
carriers posted a mishandled baggage rate of 3.59 reports per 1,000 passengers,
down from the 4.02 rate recorded during the first nine months of 2009.

Bumping

The
report also includes reports of involuntary denied boarding, or bumping, for
the third quarter and first nine months of this year from
U.S. carriers
who also report flight delay information. These carriers posted a bumping
rate of 0.87 per 10,000 passengers for the quarter, down from the 1.01 rate for
the third quarter of 2009. For the first
nine months of this year, the carriers had a bumping rate of 1.19 per 10,000
passengers, down from the rate of 1.26 rate posted during the first nine months
of 2009.

Incidents Involving Pets

In September, carriers reported four incidents
involving the loss, death or injury of pets while traveling by air, equal to
the four reports filed in September 2009, but up from the one in August 2010. September’s incidents involved the death of
three pets and the injury of one pet.

Complaints
About Airline Service

In September, the Department received 755
complaints about airline service from consumers, up 25.2 percent from the 603
complaints filed in September 2009 but down 37.1 percent from the 1,200 received
in August 2010. For the first
nine months of this year, the Department received 8,811 consumer complaints, up
32.0 percent from the total of 6,676 filed during the first nine months of
2009.

Complaints About Treatment of Disabled
Passengers

The report also
contains a tabulation of complaints filed with DOT in September against airlines
regarding the treatment of passengers with disabilities. The Department received a total of 41
disability-related complaints in September, up from the total of 28 filed in September
2009 but down from the 71 complaints received in August 2010. For the first nine months of this year, the
Department received 440 disability-related complaints, up 13.7 percent from the
total of 387 filed during the first nine months of 2009.

Complaints
About Discrimination

In
September, the Department received 10 complaints alleging discrimination by
airlines due to factors other than disability – such as race, religion,
national origin or sex – down from both the total of 11 recorded in September 2009
and 17 recorded in August 2010. For the
first nine months of this year, the Department received 111 complaints about
discrimination, up 12.1 percent from the total of 99 filed during the first
nine months of 2009.

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 information is also
available on the appropriate carrier’s website.

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 September 2010
Key On-Time Performance and Flight Cancellation Statistics

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

Overall

85.1 percent on-time arrivals

Highest On-Time Arrival Rates

1. Hawaiian Airlines – 95.8 percent

2. AirTran Airways – 90.7 percent

3. Alaska Airlines – 90.5 percent

Lowest On-Time
Arrival Rates

1. Comair – 78.2 percent

2. JetBlue
Airways – 78.8 percent

3. Delta Air Lines – 81.5 percent

Flights with Longest Tarmac
Delays

1. Southwest
Airlines flight 337 from Philadelphia to St. Louis, 9/22/10 – delayed on
tarmac 199 minutes

2. US
Airways flight 373 from New York JFK to Charlotte, 9/22/10 – delayed on
tarmac 197 minutes

3. Pinnacle
Airlines flight 3968 from New York JFK to Chicago O’Hare, 9/22/10 –
delayed on tarmac 185 minutes

4. Delta
Air Lines flight 2189 from Philadelphia to Detroit, 9/22/10 – delayed on
tarmac 183 minutes

(There were only four flights with tarmac delays of more
than three hours in September)

Highest Rates of
Canceled Flights

1. Comair – 2.0 percent

2. Pinnacle Airlines – 2.0 percent

3. American Eagle Airlines – 1.7 percent

Lowest Rates of Canceled Flights

1. Hawaiian Airlines – 0.0 percent*

2. Frontier Airlines – 0.2 percent

3. AirTran Airways – 0.2 percent

*Hawaiian Airlines had two canceled flights in September.