Flights’ on-time arrival rate rises

U.S. airline delays in November fell for the third consecutive month as carriers took steps such as canceling flights rather than let late-arriving planes clog airports.

The on-time arrival rate was 80%, up from 77% a year earlier, according to a U.S. Transportation Department report Thursday.

“It looks like the airlines are acting more proactively to the snowstorms,” said Jack Kies, who oversaw national airspace for the Federal Aviation Administration. “What they’re trying to do is reduce the impact on the overall operation.”

The run of improvements may end when December figures are tallied, because preliminary data show weather-related delays rose last month, FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said. Continental Airlines Inc. said Wednesday that its December rate was 66% because of “numerous winter storms,” down from 78% in November.

“We’re going to continue to see delays higher this year” due to U.S. airline capacity, said Kies, chief executive of Herndon, Va.-based Metron Aviation Inc., which develops technology to reduce flight delays. Although some carriers pared flights in 2007, others didn’t, helping push capacity up 2.7% through November, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

About 74.2% of flights arrived on time for the first 11 months of 2007, the lowest figure since the same period in 2000. The U.S. defines on-time flights as those arriving within 15 minutes of the scheduled time, and the ratings cover the performance of 20 major carriers.

AMR Corp.’s American Airlines and UAL Corp.’s United Airlines, ranked No. 1 and No. 2 worldwide by passenger traffic, had the lowest on-time rates in November of 75.6% and 75.5%, respectively.

Hawaiian Holdings Inc.’s Hawaiian Airlines, Aloha Airgroup Inc.’s Aloha Airlines and Delta Air Lines Inc. led the industry with on-time arrival rates of more than 85%, according to the Transportation Department report.

New York’s LaGuardia and Newark, N.J.’s Liberty were the two U.S. airports with the most delays in November and for the year through that month. Less than 60% of flights arrived on time at the two airports in the first 11 months of 2007.

About 38% of late flights were delayed by weather in November, down 7% from a year earlier, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

The number of flights that are late 70% of the time or more fell for a third straight month. They dropped to 138 in November from 262 a year earlier.

In November, 12 flights spent more than three hours on the ground before taking off, the fewest in any month last year, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The figure doesn’t include delays occurring after flights arrived, or those related to trips that were diverted or later canceled.

Reports of mishandled baggage fell in November, dropping to 4.89 per 1,000 passengers, the Transportation Department said. A year earlier, the rate was 6.32 per 1,000.

The agency received 808 consumer complaints in November, up from 589 a year earlier.