U.S. airlines had no long tarmac delays in October

U.S. airlines had no long tarmac delays in October

2010-12-08 01:36:09 GMT+7 (ICT)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- U.S. largest airlines reported no flights in October with tarmac delays of more than three hours, down from 11 flights in October 2009, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) said on Tuesday.

DOT said in a statement that October 2010 is the first month there were no tarmac delays of more than three hours by the reporting carriers since the Department began collecting more comprehensive tarmac delay data in October 2008.

The DOT's Bureau of Transportation Statistics said there have been only 12 total tarmac delays of more than three hours reported from May through October this year by the 18 airlines, compared to 546 during the same five-month period of 2009.

A new tarmac delay rule prohibits U.S. airlines operating domestic flights from permitting an aircraft to remain on the tarmac for more than three hours without deplaning passengers, with exceptions allowed only for safety or security or if air traffic control advises the pilot in command that returning to the terminal would disrupt airport operations.

JetBlue Airways had the worst on-time performance in October at 76.7%. Southwest Airlines had the second-worst rate, at 77.5%., while Hawaiian Airlines again had the best on-time performance with a 95.4% rate. AirTran Airways had the second-best rate with a 90.4 percent.

In October, the Department received 749 complaints about airline service from consumers, down 16.5 percent from the 898 complaints filed in October 2009, and down 0.8 percent from the 755 received in September 2010.

The U.S. aviation industry had a mishandled baggage rate of 2.91 per 1,000 passengers in October, an improvement over October 2009's rate of 3.51, but up from September 2010's 2.89 rate.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2010-12-08