2007 airline delays remain second worst on record
4 January 2008The airline industry’s on-time performance through the first 11 months of this year was the second worst on record, but delays in November fell compared with a year ago and from the previous month.
The nation’s 20 largest carriers reported an on-time arrival rate of 80% in November, up from 76.5% in the same month a year ago and from 78.2% in October, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics said Thursday.
In November, 37.8% of late flights were delayed by weather, down from 40.7% in the same month last year and from 39.8% in October.
Despite the improved results in November, the first 11 months of the year left plenty of room for improvement with 24% of flights arriving late and another 2% were canceled. The industry’s on-time performance of just over 74% so far this year was the second worst since comparable data began being collected in 1995, trailing only the 73.5% arrival rate in 2000.
UAL Corp.’s United Airlines was the least punctual of the pack, with about 24% of its flights delayed by at least 15 minutes in November.
source: USA Today
