US airlines’ on-time performance up from previous year

WASHINGTON, DC – The reporting carriers posted an on-time arrival rate of 83.6 percent in February 2016, up from both the 72.8 percent on-time rate in February 2015 and the 81.3 percent mark in January 2016, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Air Travel Consumer Report released today.

The reporting carriers canceled 1.6 percent of their scheduled domestic flights in February 2016, an improvement over both the 4.8 percent cancellation rate posted in February 2015 and the 2.6 percent rate in January 2016.

The consumer report also includes data on tarmac delays, chronically delayed flights, and the causes of flight delays filed with the Department’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) by the reporting carriers. In addition, the consumer report contains a tally of aviation service complaints filed with DOT’s Aviation Consumer Protection Division by consumers regarding a range of issues such as flight problems, baggage, reservation and ticketing, refunds, customer service, disability, and discrimination. The consumer report also includes statistics on mishandled baggage reports filed by consumers with the reporting carriers, data on oversales, and information about the total number of animals that died, were injured, or were lost during air transport in February, as filed by the air carriers with the Aviation Consumer Protection Division.