Airlines late more often in July than a year prior – however Hawaiian still shines

U.S. Airlines announced Monday that they were collectively late more often in July than a year earlier. However, carriers were quick to point out that only three planes were stranded on the tarmac for over three hours, down significantly from the same time a year ago. 

Down from 77.6 percent in July 2009, the nation's major airlines operated 76.7 percent of flights on time in July. The on-time rate was up from a month earlier when bad weather delayed many planes.

As usual, Hawaiian Airlines topped the list of carriers on-time, followed by Alaska Airlines and United Airlines. The airline with the least favorable on-time rate was Expressjet Airlines, which operates regional flights for United and Continental. 

The good news from the airlines was that throughout the month of July only three plans were stuck on the runway for more than three hours. That is down tremendously from 161 in July 2009.

All three offenders were American Eagle flights departing O'Hare International Airport in Chicago on July 23. On that day sever thunderstorms forced many planes to sit on the runway. All three flights were eventually brought back to the terminal and canceled.

With the DOT recently accepting complaints via e-mail, passenger complaints skyrocketed 32.3 percent to 1,094, with a majority of the complaints referencing issues over cancellations and delays. 

Finally, while airlines managed to get more bags to their final destination when compared to a year earlier, the mishandled baggage rate increased from June.  

Source: Associated Press