Airlines for America (A4A) reports the best industry on-time performance for any February and the best baggage handling performance for any month ever recorded.
A4A cites the Department of Transportation (DOT) Air Travel Consumer Report that reports 86.2 percent of flights arrived within 15 minutes of scheduled arrival time in February 2012. The performance marked the all-time record for any February since DOT began keeping on-time statistics in 1988.
The previous February record of 84.7 percent was set in 2002. The February on-time results follow record performance in both December 2011 and January 2012.
“Our members have set on-time arrival records for three consecutive months, reflecting their commitment to a better customer experience and to what matters most to customers: arriving at their destination safely and on time,” said A4A President and CEO Nicholas E. Calio. “A combination of systematic airline operational improvements and mild winter weather delivered strong results in all DOT consumer metrics.”
Also in February 2012, there were 2.64 reports of mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers, an all-time best for any February and a record for any month recorded by DOT. This record represents a 28 percent improvement from February 2011. The statistic shows that nearly 99.7 percent of all U.S. airline passengers had their bags delivered on time, A4A says.
There was a 13 percent drop in the number of customer complaints filed with DOT compared with February 2011, with less than one complaint per 100,000 passengers in four of the past five months, according to A4A.
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