October’s on-time rate for the nation’s largest airlines fell to 77.3 percent from October 2008’s 86 percent.
Severe weather was a major culprit in flight delays, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics report released Tuesday.
In October, 41 percent of flight delays were attributed to weather, compared with 19 percent in October 2008.
At Denver International Airport, 75 percent of flights arrived on time in October and 73 percent of departing flights took off on time.
DIA’s largest carrier, United, had 81.7 percent of its flights arrive on time. No. 2 Frontier reported 72.9 percent arrived on time, and Southwest, DIA’s third-largest airline, was on time with 77.8 percent of its arrivals.
Southwest had the fewest complaints among domestic carriers. British Airways topped the international and overall complaints, most of which were connected with a $40 fare erroneously posted on its website in October.
Ann Schrader: 303-954-1967 or aschrader@
This article has been corrected in this online archive. Originally, due to a reporter’s error, this story incorrectly stated Southwest Airlines’ ranking in customer
complaints. In October, Southwest had the fewest number of
complaints among 19 airlines reporting to the U.S. Department of
Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
