83.4% of Flights On Time in October, Report Says
The airlines reported a better than 80% on-time record for the ninth straight month in October despite increased delays in the Chicago area because of air traffic control problems, the Transportation Department said Wednesday.
The 13 largest domestic air carriers reported that 83.4% of their flights arrived on time during October, although the arrival rate at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport was only 73.4% because of flight restrictions.
Eastern Airlines, which early this year was consistently among the worst on-time performers, compiled the best record among the 13 airlines in October, with Eastern planes arriving within 15 minutes of schedule 90.3% of the time.
Eastern was followed by America West, with 89.1%, and Delta Air Lines, with 87.8%. Alaska Airlines had the worst record at 77.9%. USAir and United Airlines, which has a concentration of flights at Chicago, were not far ahead with a 79.7% on-time mark.
Meanwhile, consumer complaints against the airlines, as reflected by complaints to the government, continued to decline. The department said in November that the DOT’s consumer affairs office received 1,196 complaints, fewer than the previous month and a 60% decline from November, 1987.
The most complaints to the DOT during November involved Trans World Airlines (8.12 complaints per 100,000 passengers) followed by Pan American World Airways (7.02 complaints per 100,000 passengers).
The November consumer complaints routinely are released in conjunction with the October on-time statistics, although they cover a different month.
Government and industry experts had been expecting lower on-time figures in October because of the increased air traffic delay problems in the Chicago area.
The Federal Aviation Administration reduced the number of flights it would allow into Chicago’s airports, including O’Hare, from 96 an hour to 80 an hour on Oct. 3 because of concern that air traffic controllers were being forced to handle too much traffic. Controllers had made an unusually high number of traffic control errors, prompting the FAA action.
Salt Lake City Best
As a result, airlines acknowledged an increase in delays in and out of Chicago. Nearly one in four flights into O’Hare International Airport was delayed during October, ranking the airport 26th among the 27 airports on which information was provided. In September, O’Hare’s arrival rate was 81.6%.
Salt Lake City had the best arrival record in October with 89.6% of the flights landing on time. The Tampa, Fla., airport had an on-time arrival record of 88.4%. San Francisco had the record with 62.1% of the planes arriving on time, followed by Chicago’s O’Hare.
Since last April, better than 80% of airline flights have been arriving on time, compared to an average of about 74% during the prior six months. The department, which considers a flight to be on time if it arrives within 15 minutes of schedule, began keeping on-time records in September, 1987.
Transportation Secretary James Burnley attributed the improved performances in part on competitive pressures resulting from the required disclosure of airline on-time performance. But he said another factor has been that airlines have made their flight schedules more realistic.
Airlines do not bunch flights together during peak travel periods as much as they once did and often provide more flying time in their posted flight schedules so the schedule more closely reflects actual flying conditions, officials suggested.
According to the monthly DOT consumer report, the number of complaints about mishandled bags increased in October to 6.09 per 1,000 passengers, compared to 5.71 per 1,000 passengers in September.
Southwest Airlines had the largest percentage of flights that were late 70% of the time. Twenty-one Southwest flights, or 2.4% of the airline’s total number, were late at least 7 out of 10 times during October. Overall, however, Southwest had the sixth-best on-time record, with an 82.8% arrival mark.
ON-TIME PERFORMANCE
Percentage of flights arriving on time during October. This is defined as arriving within 15 minutes of the scheduled time.
Airline Percent
Eastern 90.3
America West 89.1
Delta 87.8
Piedmont 84.3
American 83.8
Southwest 82.8
Continental 81.9
TWA 81.5
Pan American 81.1
Northwest 80.7
United 79.7
USAir 79.7
Alaska 77.9
Source: Associated Press
