U.S. airlines' on-time performance and baggage handling improved in October, and the carriers overall posted a lower rate of domestic cancellations compared to the same month a year ago, the Transportation Department said Wednesday.
Regional carrier Atlantic Southeast Airlines had the worst on-time performance in October, while regional carrier Pinnacle Airlines had the best.
The DOT's Bureau of Transportation Statistics said the 19 carriers reporting on-time performance recorded an overall on-time arrival rate of 86 percent in October, higher than the 78.2 percent recorded a year earlier and the 84.9 percent recorded in September of this year.
The agency said the carriers in October canceled 0.6 percent of their scheduled domestic flights, a lower rate than both the 1.2 percent cancellation rate of October 2007 and the 1.8 percent rate posted in September of this year.
The airlines overall had a mishandled baggage rate of 3.55 reports per 1,000 passengers in October, an improvement over October 2007's rate of 5.37 reports per 1,000 passengers and the rate of 3.86 reports per 1,000 passengers recorded in September of this year.
Complaints also dropped. The DOT said it received 627 complaints about airline service from consumers in October, down 42.3 percent from the 1,099 complaints filed in October 2007 and 8.3 percent fewer than the 684 received in September of this year.
Atlanta-based Atlantic Southeast Airlines, a unit of St. George, Utah-based SkyWest Inc., had the lowest on-time arrival rate in October, at 80.4 percent. The most frequently delayed flight in the month was ExpressJet Airlines flight 2396 from Newark, N.J., to Detroit, which was late 85.2 percent of the time.
Regional carrier Mesa Airlines had the second-lowest on-time arrival rate in October, at 80.5 percent, while Houston-based Continental Airlines Inc. had the third-lowest on-time arrival rate in the month, at 81.4 percent.
Regional carrier Pinnacle Airlines, based in Memphis, Tenn., topped the list with an on-time arrival rate in October of 90.7 percent. Northwest Airlines, a unit of Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc., was No. 2 at 90 percent and Hawaiian Airlines was No. 3 at 89.9 percent.
Among legacy carriers, Northwest's on-time arrival rate in October was the best. Delta completed its $2.8 billion acquisition of Northwest on Oct. 29.
For discount carriers, Southwest Airlines had the best on-time arrival rate in October, at 89.6 percent, good for fourth-best overall.
Year-to-date through the end of October, AMR Corp.'s American Airlines was at the bottom among the 19 reporting airlines in on-time performance.
Many airlines are charging fees for checked luggage and for other services that were once free. Many of the fees remain despite the dramatic decline in fuel prices since their record level in July.