U.S. Airlines Improve Performance : More On-Time Arrivals, Fewer Lost Bags in February

U.S. airlines improved their on-time record in February, but one of every four flights continued to be late as weather conditions played a major role in how close a carrier was able to adhere to its schedule.

The Transportation Department said Tuesday that 74.7% of the flights reported by 14 major airlines in February arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, an increase from 69.2% in the previous month.

The airlines with the best record, however, also were those that concentrated flights in the Southwest and West, where weather conditions were generally good during the month.

According to the department, nine of every 10 Pacific Southwest Airlines arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, the government’s margin for a flight to be considered on-time. America West and Southwest Airlines followed with arrival rates of better than 88%.

Northwest Airlines, which operates largely in the northern tier of states, had the worst on-time record among the 14 airlines, with 61.7% of its flights arriving within 15 minutes of schedule.

Northwest officials attributed the large number of delays to poor weather and said the airline’s figures improved to 75.4% in March when the weather was better. Those figures will be released officially by the government next month.

“We encountered unusually severe weather in much of our system during the first 21 days of February,” said William Wren, vice president for corporate relations at Northwest.

Complaints Up Slightly

Other airlines with a less than 70% on-time record were Continental Airlines, with 67.7%, and Trans World Airlines, with 69.4%. American Airlines had the best performance among the large carriers, with 80.8% of its flights arriving on time.

The report excludes delays caused by mechanical problems, but includes those attributed to poor weather.

The number of reports on mishandled bags filed with airlines declined during February, averaging 8.75 reports for every 1,000 passengers flown, compared to 11.83 in January.

Meanwhile, complaints to the Transportation Department’s consumer affairs office about air travel increased slightly during March to 2,584 from 2,235 in February.

The department releases the on-time arrival statistics for February at the same time as the consumer complaint statistics, although the complaint information covers a different month.

Continental, Eastern Airlines and Northwest had the highest complaint rate in both March and during the first three months of 1988.

There were 18 complaints for every 100,000 passengers at Continental during March, 16.14 complaints at Eastern and 12.37 complaints at Northwest, according to the department.

The Orlando, Fla., airport had the worst arrival record in February with only 62.7% of the flights arriving on time, followed by Detroit at 64%.

The best arrival record was recorded at Phoenix and Las Vegas. Both airports had on-time arrival rates of nearly 83%. Charlotte, N.C., recorded an 80.7% on-time percentage.

PERFORMANCE BY CARRIER Overall percentage of flights arriving on time during February:

Pacific Southwest 90.6%

America West 88.7

Southwest 88.5

American 80.8

Pan American 80.1

Alaska 76.9

Piedmont 75.0

USAir 74.8

Delta 73.6

United 73.2

Eastern 70.6

TWA 69.4

Continental 67.7

Northwest 61.7 Source: Dept. of Transportation

ON-TIME FLIGHTS AT LAX Percentage of on-time flights at L.A. International Airport in February:

Pacific Southwest 92.0%

America West 81.9

American 81.2

Southwest 81.1

Alaska 77.8

Delta 73.5

United 72.7

Pan American 68.9

USAir 66.2

TWA 64.0

Continental 63.5

Eastern 58.6

Piedmont 55.6

Northwest 38.2 Source: Dept. of Transportation

THE 15 LATEST FLIGHTS

Flight % 15 minutes Airline number Origin/destination late or more Continental 1191 Atlanta/Denver 100.00% Continental 1617 Miami/Denver 96.15 Continental 616 Chicago O’Hare/Cleveland 95.83 Piedmont 20 Orlando/Dayton, Ohio 93.10 Continental 1251 Washington, D.C. National/New Orleans 92.31 Continental 489 Houston Intercontinental/Seattle 92.31 United 34 San Francisco/Newark 92.31 Continental 581 Washington, D.C. Dulles/Denver 92.00 Continental 1740 Tampa, Fla./Los Angeles 92.00 Continental 1253 Washington, D.C. National/New Orleans 91.67 Eastern 162 Tampa, Fla./New York JFK 91.67 Continental 893 Houston Intercontinental/San Francisco 90.91 Continental 643 Newark/Chicago O’Hare 90.91 United 493 Boston/Chicago O’Hare 90.91 Delta 891 Newark/Cincinnati 89.66

Source: Dept. of Transportation