catlover79
08-08-2007, 01:01 AM
Both my brother and I dealt with this. We both used US Airways. He took one direct flight to Vegas and one direct flight home - both delayed about 2 hours. I took five flights altogether - and 4 were delayed. I missed my connection to San Luis Obispo by 10 minutes and had to wait almost 3 hours for the next flight - 3 less hours I had to spend with my friend Brenda. :mad: Boo hiss...:angryfire:
The Associated Press
The Transportation Department said Monday that the industry's on-time performance in the first six months of the year was its worst since the department began gathering comparable data in 1995. In June, nearly one-third of domestic flights on major U.S. airlines were late.
Part of the explanation for the worsening delays is that demand for air travel is rising, both on major airlines and on smaller regional carriers. In addition, the government said weather-related delays in June were up 7 percent from a year ago.
Reports of mishandled baggage and complaints filed with the government also rose.
Airline consultant Robert Mann said U.S. carriers improved their financial health in recent years by relying more on small 40- to 80-seat jets that are easier to fill up and can be more profitable because there are fewer empty seats. However, this strategy also leads to more crowded skies and runways in a system "that was already saturated," Mann said.
Regional carriers served 155.7 million passengers last year, up 38 percent from 2003 levels, according to the Washington-based Regional Airline Association. Those carriers, which include Mesa Air Group Inc. and Delta Air Lines' Comair subsidiary, operated at nearly 74 percent of capacity on average last year, up from 66 percent four years ago.
For June, U.S. airlines' on-time arrival rate was just above 68 percent, compared with roughly 73 percent a year earlier, according to Transportation Department data. So far in 2007, nearly 25 percent of flights on the 20 largest carriers have arrived late, the agency said.
Travelers on SkyWest's Atlantic Southeast Airlines, a regional carrier for Delta, had it worst in June, as about 56 percent of flights arrived on time, and five of that airline's flights were late 100 percent of the time. American Airlines was barely better, with an on-time arrival rate of about 58 percent. US Airways had an on-time rate of about 62 percent.
The airline industry blames the increased delays on a lack of a modern, satellite-based air-traffic control system, combined with increasing demand.
"We're not surprised by the numbers," said David Castelveter, a spokesman for the Air Transport Association, the airlines' trade group. "We have been saying for some time: It's going to get worse before it gets better."
The industry, along with the Federal Aviation Administration, has been pushing for a sweeping upgrade to the existing radar-based system but has been caught up in an intense political battle over who will foot the bill — big airlines or users of smaller aircraft. Lawmakers face a Sept. 30 deadline before the current funding system expires.
The Associated Press
The Transportation Department said Monday that the industry's on-time performance in the first six months of the year was its worst since the department began gathering comparable data in 1995. In June, nearly one-third of domestic flights on major U.S. airlines were late.
Part of the explanation for the worsening delays is that demand for air travel is rising, both on major airlines and on smaller regional carriers. In addition, the government said weather-related delays in June were up 7 percent from a year ago.
Reports of mishandled baggage and complaints filed with the government also rose.
Airline consultant Robert Mann said U.S. carriers improved their financial health in recent years by relying more on small 40- to 80-seat jets that are easier to fill up and can be more profitable because there are fewer empty seats. However, this strategy also leads to more crowded skies and runways in a system "that was already saturated," Mann said.
Regional carriers served 155.7 million passengers last year, up 38 percent from 2003 levels, according to the Washington-based Regional Airline Association. Those carriers, which include Mesa Air Group Inc. and Delta Air Lines' Comair subsidiary, operated at nearly 74 percent of capacity on average last year, up from 66 percent four years ago.
For June, U.S. airlines' on-time arrival rate was just above 68 percent, compared with roughly 73 percent a year earlier, according to Transportation Department data. So far in 2007, nearly 25 percent of flights on the 20 largest carriers have arrived late, the agency said.
Travelers on SkyWest's Atlantic Southeast Airlines, a regional carrier for Delta, had it worst in June, as about 56 percent of flights arrived on time, and five of that airline's flights were late 100 percent of the time. American Airlines was barely better, with an on-time arrival rate of about 58 percent. US Airways had an on-time rate of about 62 percent.
The airline industry blames the increased delays on a lack of a modern, satellite-based air-traffic control system, combined with increasing demand.
"We're not surprised by the numbers," said David Castelveter, a spokesman for the Air Transport Association, the airlines' trade group. "We have been saying for some time: It's going to get worse before it gets better."
The industry, along with the Federal Aviation Administration, has been pushing for a sweeping upgrade to the existing radar-based system but has been caught up in an intense political battle over who will foot the bill — big airlines or users of smaller aircraft. Lawmakers face a Sept. 30 deadline before the current funding system expires.