U.S. airlines post dismal on-time record for February
— -- The 20 largest U.S. airlines reported that 68.6% of flights arrived on time in February according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's monthly report released Thursday, marking the seventh worst month for airline performance since the DOT began using its current methodology in 1995. It was also the second worst February ever, following 67.3% a year ago.
The February data also reflected a drop in performance from January, when 72.4% arrived on time. Flights are considered on time if they arrive within 15 minutes of scheduled time.
With nearly 1.2 million flights each month, the domestic airline industry continues to delay flights at historically high levels. In the first two months this year, more than a quarter — 25.9% — of flights arrived late. Only the Jan.-Feb. periods in 1996 and 2007 were higher.
Nearly 305,000 flights arrived late since the year began, only the second time since 1995 that the industry topped 300,000 in the first two months of a year.
Late arriving aircraft — which caused 9.7% of delays — were cited as the single biggest factor in late arrivals. The carriers also reported that 9.4% of their flights were delayed by aviation system delays.
Other highlights:
•About 3.2% of flights were canceled, up from 2.9% in January but improved from 4.5% a year ago.
•The U.S. carriers posted 6.4 mishandled baggage reports per 1,000 passengers in February, an improvement over both February 2007's rate of 8.23 and January 2008's 7.37.
•Delta's 77% on-time performance in February was the best among large U.S. carriers. American Airlines, with 61%, was the worst.
•JetBlue flight 515 from Newark to Fort Lauderdale was the most delayed flight. It was never on time during the month. American Airlines flight 1763 from Chicago O'Hare to Orange County, Calif., was the second worst, arriving late 96% of the time.
•Among large airports, Oakland, Salt Lake City and Phoenix respectively posted the highest on-time rates.
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