Air Travel Consumer Report: August 2019 Numbers

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In August 2019, reporting marketing carriers posted an on-time arrival rate of 77.6%, up from both the 76.9% on-time rate in July 2019 and from 75.2% in August 2018.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) yesterday released its October 2019 Air Travel Consumer Report (ATCR) on reporting marketing and operating air carrier data compiled for the month of August 2019.

August On-Time Performance

In August 2019, reporting marketing carriers posted an on-time arrival rate of 77.6%, up from both the 76.9% on-time rate in July 2019 and from 75.2% in August 2018.

 

Highest Reporting Marketing Carrier On-Time Arrival Rates (ATCR Table 1)

  1. Hawaiian Airlines Network – 89.7%
  2. Southwest Airlines – 82.2%
  3. Delta Air Lines Network – 82.1%

Lowest Reporting Marketing Carrier On-Time Arrival Rates (ATCR Table 1)

  1. JetBlue Airways – 67.8%
  2. Spirit Airlines – 70.9%
  3. Frontier Airlines – 71.2%

August Cancellations

In August 2019, reporting marketing carriers canceled 1.8% of their scheduled domestic flights, lower than both the rate of 2.1% in July 2019 and 2.0% in August 2018.

Lowest Reporting Marketing Carrier Rates of Canceled Flights (ATCR Table 6)

  1. Allegiant Air – 0.3%
  2. Hawaiian Airlines Network – 0.4%
  3. Delta Air Lines Network – 0.9%

Highest Reporting Marketing Carrier Rates of Canceled Flights (ATCR Table 6)

  1. Spirit Airlines – 3.0%
  2. American Airlines Network – 2.9%
  3. United Airlines Network – 2.2%

Tarmac Delays

In August 2019, airlines reported 46 tarmac delays of more than three hours on domestic flights, compared to 58 such tarmac delays reported in July 2019 and 42 tarmac delays reported in August 2018. In August 2019, airlines reported two tarmac delays of more than four hours on international flights, compared to three tarmac delays reported in July 2019 and three tarmac delays reported in August 2018.  Extended tarmac delays are investigated by the Department.

Domestic Flights with Longest Tarmac Delays Exceeding Three Hours (ATCR Table 8)

  1. Delta Air Lines flight 2972 from New York JFK (JFK) to New Orleans, La. (MSY), 8/19/19 – delayed 3 hours and 31 minutes on the tarmac at New York JFK.
  2. Delta Air Lines flight 3364 (operated by Endeavor Air) from White Plains, N.Y. (HPN) to Atlanta (ATL), 8/7/19 – delayed 3 hours and 30 minutes on the tarmac at White Plains.
  3. Delta Air Lines flight 2649 from New York JFK (JFK) to Tampa, Fla. (TPA), 8/21/19 – delayed 3 hours and 29 minutes on the tarmac at New York JFK.

International Flights with Longest Tarmac Delays Exceeding Four Hours (ATCR Table 8A)

  1. American Airlines flight 4385 (operated by Republic Airways) from Providenciales, Turks and Caicos (PLS), to Miami (MIA), 8/3/19 – delayed 4 hours and 48 minutes on the tarmac at Key West, Fla. (EYW), after being diverted.
  2. American Airlines flight 224 from Taravella, Argentina (COR), to Miami (MIA), 8/28/19  – delayed 4 hours and 22 minutes on the tarmac at Orlando, Fla. (MCO), after being diverted.

There were no other tarmac delays of more than four hours on international flights in August.

Mishandled Baggage

In August 2019, the reporting marketing carriers posted a mishandled baggage rate of 6.06 mishandled bags per 1,000 checked bags, a lower rate than the July 2019 rate of 6.33 per 1,000 checked bags.

See the October 2019 Air Travel Consumer Report for mishandled baggage numbers by airline.

Mishandled Wheelchairs and Scooters

In August 2019, reporting marketing airlines reported checking 62,791 wheelchairs and scooters and mishandling 995, a rate of 1.58% mishandled, compared to the revised rate of 1.71% mishandled in July 2019. In December 2018, DOT reported mishandled wheelchairs and scooters data for carriers for the first time.

See the October 2019 Air Travel Consumer Report for mishandled wheelchair and scooter numbers by airline.

Bumping/Oversales

Bumping/oversales data, unlike other air carrier data, are reported quarterly rather than monthly. Second quarter 2019 bumping/oversales data were released in the August 2019 Air Travel Consumer Report.  January-September 2019 and third quarter 2019 bumping/oversales data will be available in the November 2019 Air Travel Consumer Report.

See the August 2019 Air Travel Consumer Report for denied boarding numbers by airline.

Incidents Involving Animals

In August 2019, U.S. airlines reported one incident involving the death, injury, or loss of an animal while traveling by air, equal to both the one report filed in August 2018 and the one filed in July 2019.  August’s incident involved the death of one animal.

Complaints About Airline Service

In August 2019, DOT received 1,712 complaints about airline service from consumers, down 1.0% from the total of 1,730 filed in August 2018 and down 8.7% from the 1,875 received in July 2019. 

Complaints About Treatment of Disabled Passengers

In August 2019, the Department received a total of 109 disability-related complaints, up from both the 89 complaints received in August 2018 and the 105 complaints received in July 2019.