DOT: Carriers Reach All-Time Timeliness, Baggage-Handling Highs

The 19 largest domestic airlines in November collectively recorded their best-ever monthly on-time performance and set a record for the lowest rate of mishandled bags, according to U.S. Department of Transportation data released today.

According to DOT figures, 88.6 percent of flights arrived within 15 minutes of schedule in November, the highest on-time rate since DOT began collecting such data in 1995, besting the previous 88 percent high reported for September 2002.

DOT only requires data from U.S. carriers that operate at least 1 percent of total domestic scheduled passenger service—18 in total— though Pinnacle Airlines also voluntarily reports such data.

Flight tracking firm FlightStats, which gathers arrival and departure delay data in real time from airlines and also taps into Federal Aviation Administration systems for a fuller picture of the U.S. transportation system, showed slightly poorer performance than DOT's record-setting numbers for November. According to its database, 37 U.S. airlines reported an 87 percent on-time rating in November—not even a record by its methodology.

Carriers did not fare as well in December, FlightStats reported this month, thanks to winter storms that slugged operations on the East Coast and Midwest during the holiday season. As such, less than 71 percent flights arrived at the gate within 15 minutes of schedule last month.

Meanwhile, according to DOT, carriers reported that for every 1,000 passengers, 2.78 experienced some mishandling of their luggage, the best overall performance since DOT began collecting such data in September 1987. The previous record—3.01 per 1,000 passengers—was set just months before in September 2009.

According to DOT, Hawaiian Airlines and United Airlines held the top two on-time arrival positions in November at 93.3 percent and 92.6 percent, respectively, while Atlantic Southeast Airlines and AirTran Airways posted the worst at 80.5 percent and 80.6 percent, respectively.