The nation’s biggest airlines got more flights off on time in January than in January 2008, according to the monthly Air Travel Consumer Report released Wednesday.
Overall, 19 domestic air carriers reported an on-time arrival rate of 77 percent, up from 72.4 percent a year ago, and much-improved from 65.3 percent in December 2008.
In January, more than 43 percent of the delayed flights were caused by weather, the report said, up from 0.11 percent a year earlier.
Aviation system delays caused about 8 percent of the flights to be late, with factors within an airline’s control, such as not having a complete crew, delaying about 5 percent of the flights.
The report, compiled by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics, also shows the large airlines canceled fewer flights and mishandled fewer bags than in January 2008.
Complaints about airline service were down and there were no reports of pets being lost, injured or dying while traveling compared with four in January 2008 and one in December 2008.
Improvement in service usually occurs between December and January because passenger traffic slows after the holiday crush. Airlines also have cut back on capacity since mid-2008 so there are fewer travelers.
The three largest carriers that are based at or have a hub at Denver International Airport scored higher than the national average.
United’s on-time performance was 79.04 percent; Frontier, 76.32 percent, and Southwest, 83.30 percent.
Numbers
19.66% Portion of the 19,454 departing flights in January at Denver International Airport that were late
8.58 Average time late, in minutes
19.94% Portion of 19,447 arriving fights that were late
4.54 Average time late, in minutes
