U.S. airline delays reach worst level in at least 13 years

[catlover79]

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. Boo hiss...:

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.

[Mr. Stefani]

I sat on an airplane for 3 and a half hours before the plane could take off last month on Delta. With no AC on. I wanted to kill someone.

[dawsongirl]

Originally Posted by Mr. Stefani

I sat on an airplane for 3 and a half hours before the plane could take off last month on Delta. With no AC on. I wanted to kill someone.

Holy ****.

[dawsongirl]

I was on 8 flights total last November, and they were all on time. Looks like I got lucky. Otherwise I would have been stuck in either Dallas or Phoenix much longer than I would have liked.

[Mr. Stefani]

Originally Posted by dawsongirl

Holy ****.

Its just my luck. The flight attendant said in her 15 years of working shes never had a delay that long before.

[brie]

Originally Posted by catlover79

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.

The second half of the year isn't turning out to be much better. Why am I up at this ungodly hour? Because I just got home, after sitting in airports for the last 11 hours - trying to return home in what was supposed to be a three hour trip (... okay, maybe Gilligan and the Skipper were piloting the plane). There, I feel better already. I knew it was a good idea to visit SO rather than sit and fret.

[PZelda]

Originally Posted by dawsongirl

I was on 8 flights total last November, and they were all on time. Looks like I got lucky. Otherwise I would have been stuck in either Dallas or Phoenix much longer than I would have liked.

I flew to Los Angeles and back in March... That was four flights total and they were all on time.

*knocks on wood* Never had any problems as far as delays... The longest delay I had was like 1 1/2 hours in March of last year, when I was flying to New York City. I had a layover here in Minneapolis, and it was at the time when Minnesota got hit with a LOT of snow... So that delayed our flight to NYC. Not too terribly bad... However.

My dad flew to London the day before I left for NYC, and he left the day it was storming really hard in Minnesota. It delayed his flight to Minneapolis by like 2-3 hours and by the time he got to Minneapolis, he'd missed his flight to London. So they put him on a flight to Detroit that would take him to London. What a pain in the butt. Since he was supposed to only go on two planes to get to London, it was supposed to be like a 11-12 hour trip. When he FINALLY did get to London after all the delays, he'd been traveling for 24 hours. Yikes!

[catlover79]

I can understand if a flight is delayed by weather - that can't be helped. My flights were all delayed due to "maintenance issues". My flight from Cleveland to Phoenix was delayed about 45 minutes, causing me to miss my connection to San Luis Obispo and having to wait almost 3 hours for the next flight. I was one of the few people on that flight going to California.

There was a group of people bound for Hawaii - for a wedding. They were the wedding party and missed their connection. Thankfully, the wedding wasn't until the weekend (we were flying last Tuesday), but it was still a pain for them.

Also, there were quite a few people headed for Lake Tahoe who missed their connecting flight to Reno. Since the next flight to Reno was booked solid, they had to wait 6 hours for the next available one. The people sitting next to me were Tahoe-bound and they were not happy (not that I blame them). I can't repeat the language they used here, but I think you get the idea.

My brother's flights were also delayed due to "maintenance issues". In one instance, the AC wasn't working. In another case, it was a problem with the restrooms. They had to let everyone off the plane and back into the airport to use the restrooms!!

[Corolla]

Originally Posted by catlover79

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. Boo hiss...:

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.

I take it you and Brenda aren't best friends?