Airline Service Improves During Last November, Government Says

As consumer reports begin to filter to Consumer Help Web about holiday travel horrors, the U.S. Department of Transportation says that November 2007 airline performance was better than in the past.

November, including that awful Thanksgiving travel period, had fewer delays (20%, down from 23.% a year ago and 21.8% the prior month) and fewer cancellations (1% versus 1.6% a year ago and 1.2% in October).

Even more astonishing with full flights criss-crossing the country was that the missing luggage rate plummeted. Despite the improved performance, complaints rose more than 30% from the prior November. Also not discussed in the government report was the Bush administration's decision to open air corridors typically reserved for the military during the peak Thanksgiving time.

So which airlines were the best and worst?

The airline arriving on-time most often were:

1. Hawaiian Airlines -- 92.4 percent
2. Aloha Airlines -- 91.6 percent
3. Delta Air Lines -- 85.6 percent

Atlantic Southeast Airlines posted the lowest mark of all airlines with a 76.7% rate.

In a marked improvement from their horrible February, JetBlue joined the ranks of the airlines canceling the fewest number of flights:


1. Frontier Airlines -- 0.1 percent
2. Continental Airlines -- 0.2 percent
3. JetBlue Airways -- 0.2 percent

The highest rate of cancellations, meanwhile, was Mesa Airlines, which canceled 2.9% of all flights.

But what about specific flights? There are some you may want to consider based on their November 2007 performance. According to the Department of Transportation, the most frequently delayed flights:

1. ExpressJet Airlines flight 2979 from Hartford, CT/Springfield, MA to Newark, NJ -- 88.5%

2. Continental Airlines flight 1532 from Houston Bush to New York LaGuardia -- 87.5%

3. ExpressJet Airlines flight 2076 from Newark, NJ to Indianapolis -- 85.2%

3. Mesa Airlines flight 7462 from Washington Dulles to New York LaGuardia -- 85.2%

5. American Airlines flight 350 from Chicago O’Hare to New York LaGuardia -- 83.3%

5. American Airlines flight 1497 from Newark, NJ to Chicago O’Hare -- 83.3%

5. ExpressJet Airlines flight 2717 from Newark, NJ to St. Louis – 83.3%

Labels: airline, customer satisfaction

posted by George Bounacos at 3:55 PM |