The DOT has released some figures regarding air travel delays during the busy summer travel season.
- John F Kennedy International (JFK) in New York was worst among North America’s 40 busiest airports, with les than 55% of flights arriving on-time
- LaGuardia (LGA), also in New York, was the 2nd worst with 58% on-time arrival rate
- Rounding out the NY trio was Newark International (EWR) with a 60% on-time arrival rate
- For reference, the average at all other major airports was 74%
- JetBlue was the worst performing airline in July with less than 70% on-time arrival rate
- American Airlines was worst in June, with only 58% on-time arrivals
So, if you plan your travel around avoiding delays, then next year consider flying to Salt Lake City (on Southwest Airlines). SLC had nearly an 86% on-time performance, and as usual Southwest was the major carrier with the best on-time performance. Here is the full report
In yet another round of travel issues with American Airlines this year (you may recall the issues with their MD-80 fleet), the world’s largest airline had to delay and cancel flights at New York’s JFK Airport due to malfunctioning software that controls the baggage sorting conveyor belt.
About 30 flights — of the 69 scheduled to depart from the airport Wednesday — have been delayed as of mid-afternoon by an hour to 90 minutes. The airline’s employees are sorting bags by hand and delivering them to the gates.
The airline is informing passengers that they can choose to fly without their bags and that it will deliver the delayed luggage "once the issue is resolved."
"We have brought in internal engineers and technicians from the system developer to conduct diagnostics," the Fort Worth-based carrier said in a statement. "We regret the inconvenience and we appreciate our customers’ patience as we work through this issue. Though it is not our normal policy, we will be waiving first and second checked bag fees today."
This is what you’ll see today in American’s terminal at JFK:
American did say that it would waive the fees it charges to check a first and second bag on Wednesday. Perhaps now is time to consider saying goodbye to baggage claims and ship those bags direct to your destination.
A recently released Senate report estimates that flight delays in 2007 cost passengers, airlines and the broader US economy more than $40 Billion. Take a moment to absorb that figure. $40 Billion from lost productivity, added operational costs to support delays, increased jet fuel consumption, and impact to other industries.
Here are a few key findings from the Senate’s Joint Economic Committee Report
- The total cost of domestic air traffic delays to the U.S. economy was as much as $41 billion for 2007 including higher airline operating costs, lost passenger productivity and time, and losses to other industries.
- Delayed flights consumed about 740 million additional gallons of jet fuel totaling $1.6 billion extra in fuel bills.
- Passengers were delayed by a total of 320 million hours, when accounting for padding in airline schedules. Almost 20 percent of total domestic flight time in 2007 was wasted in delay.
- Flight delays were longest during summer vacation months. Flight delays during the months of June, July and August averaged approximately 414,000 total hours of delay per month. Flights during December – the height of holiday traveling – totaled almost 438,000 hours of delay.
- 78% of flight delays in 2007 occurred before take-off, with 58 percent at the gate, and 20 percent during the taxi to the runway.
- 94 percent of all flight delays were caused by other flights arriving late, national system delays, or air carrier delays (less than six percent of delays were due to security or extreme weather)
The three largest airports in the New York City area, JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark airports had a total of over 40 million passengers last year. The New York City area airports combine for more than 27 million hours of passenger delays.And the average per-passenger delay at these three airports is nearly 28 minutes – among the highest in the nation.
The full report and the technical appendix can be found here
In advance of your next trip, keep an eye on whether your connection takes you through any of ’America’s Most Time-Draining Airports’. Maybe you’ll seek a new route to your destination
Can you imagine what you’d do with that extra 20% of time spent currently in airport delays?
I came across an interesting article on the My Travel Rights website which explains your rights should your flight be delayed or canceled. Here’s a clear explanation of Rule 240:
Before airline deregulation in 1978, Rule 240 was literally a federal requirement. Nowadays, it’s a term describing what individual airlines will do for late or stranded passengers. In fact, the major airlines have filed “conditions of carriage” with the U.S. Department of Transporatation (DOT) guaranteeing their respective Rule 240s.
Here’s how you can protect your rights:
Always carry a printed copy of your airline’s Rule 240
Visit the website for links to various airline policies related to this rule and others
Read Rule 240 carefully before you use it
For example, Rule 240s generally apply only to delays that are absolutely the airline’s fault, such as mechanical delays. They do not apply to what the airlines call “force majeure” events: weather, strikes, “acts of God,” or other occurrences that the airlines say they cannot control.
Be polite but very firm about your rights under Rule 240
You’ll win most battles at ticket counters when you say the phrase “Rule 240” and show the agent your printed copy of the airline’s policies. However, don’t hesitate to keep going up the chain to supervisors if you’re not satisfied. Sometimes, airlines will even go beyond Rule 240 requirements in the name of customer service.
Knowledge can sometimes be a life saver.