WASHINGTON – The US Department of Transportation today released its Air Travel Consumer Report (ATCR) on airline operational data collected for the month of December 2022 and calendar year 2022 for on-time handling, mishandled baggage and mishandled wheelchairs and scooters.
ATCR is designed to assist consumers with information about the quality of service provided by airlines. DOT remains committed to ensuring that airline passengers are treated fairly and is concerned about the recent flight cancellations and disruptions and the difficulty families are having to sit together without charges. The Department is currently investigating four domestic airlines to ensure they are not engaging in unrealistic flight scheduling. Last week, the DOT released a new family seat dashboard that highlights airlines that guarantee free family seats and those that don’t, making it easier for parents to avoid paying unwanted fees to sit with their children when they fly.
Additionally, last summer the Department announced its new Airline Customer Service Dashboard to help passengers determine what services they are owed when a flight is canceled or delayed due to an airline issue. Because of the creation of this dashboard and Secretary Buttigieg urging US airlines to improve their service, airlines have made significant changes to their plans that are now actionable. Before the DOT clamped down on airlines, none of them guaranteed meals or hotels when they were the cause of a flight cancellation or significant change. Today, all 10 major U.S. airlines commit to providing on-demand meals when a controllable cancellation or delay results in passengers waiting three hours or more for a new flight. In addition, nine of the 10 major US airlines now pledge to provide hotel accommodation upon request for any passenger affected by a controlled overnight delay or cancellation. A controllable cancellation or delay is a delay or cancellation caused by the airline.
DOT uses ATCR data, consumer complaints, and other information it provides from airlines to inform its enforcement activities and the adequacy of existing rules.
Flight operations
547,134 flights operated in December 2022 were 81.33% of the 672,765 flights operated in pre-pandemic December 2019. Flights operated in December 2022 were down 3.41% year-on-year from 566,465 flights. performed in December 2021, and 2.48% less month-on-month than the 561,067 flights performed in November 2022.
In December 2022, the 10 marketing network carriers reported 578,321 scheduled domestic flights, of which 31,187 (5.4%) were cancelled. In December 2021, the same airlines reported 566,465 scheduled domestic flights, of which 13,773 (2.4%) were cancelled. In November 2022, airlines scheduled 567,507 domestic flights, of which 6,440 (1.1%) were cancelled. In December 2019, airlines scheduled 679,941 domestic flights, of which 7,176 (1.1%) were cancelled.
December 2022. Arrive on time
In December 2022, reporting marketing carriers posted an on-time arrival rate of 69.0%, down from 80.0% in November 2022 and down from 78.2% in December 2019 before the pandemic. The 2022 year-to-date on-time arrival rate is 76.7%.
Highest Marketing Carrier On-Time Arrival Rates December 2022 (ATCR Table 1)
- Delta Air Lines Network – 77.5%
- American Airlines Network – 73.7%
- United Airlines Network – 71.8%
Lowest Marketing Carrier On-Time Arrival Rates December 2022 (ATCR Table 1)
- Frontier Airlines – 56.6%
- Allegiant Air – 57.2%
- Hawaiian Airlines – 58.1%
For calendar year 2022, reporting marketers posted an on-time arrival rate of 76.72%, down from 78.97% for the same period in pre-pandemic 2019.
Flight cancellations in December 2022
In December 2022, marketing carriers canceled 5.4% of their scheduled domestic flights, which was higher than the rate of 1.1% in both November 2022 and December 2019 before the pandemic. Of the industry-wide 5.4% flight cancellation rate in December 2022, 54.51% of the cancellations were attributed to Southwest. Southwest canceled 14,042 flights from Dec. 24 to Dec. 31, representing 72.3% of the total number of flights the carriers canceled during that time.
Lowest Marketing Carrier Rates for Flight Cancellations December 2022 (ATCR Table 6)
- American Airlines Network – 1.8%
- JetBlue Airways – 1.9%
- Delta Air Lines Network – 2.9%
Highest Levels of Marketing Carriers of Flight Cancellations in December 2022 (ATCR Table 6)
- Southwest Airlines – 14.6%
- Alaska Airlines Network – 7.6%
- Allegiant Air – 5.3%
For calendar year 2022, reporting marketers reported a cancellation rate of 2.7%, compared to 1.9% for the same period in pre-pandemic 2019.
Complaints about airline services
The Department received a large number of air service complaints and inquiries against airlines and ticket agents in December 2022. The Department’s Aviation Consumer Protection Office is working diligently to process the large number of complaints and inquiries received. However, the issuance of ATCRs has been delayed due to the time required to review and process these consumer complaints. Consumer complaint data for December 2022 and all of 2022 will be publicly available in their usual format in early April at https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer-protection/air-travel- consumer-reports.
Tarmac delays
In December 2022, airlines reported 79 tarmac delays of more than three hours on domestic flights, compared to eight tarmac delays reported in November 2022. In December 2022, airlines reported three tarmac delays of more than four hours on international flights compared to five tarmac delays reported in November 2022. For calendar year 2022, airlines reported 376 runway delays of more than three hours on domestic flights and 21 runway delays of more than four hours on international flights. For calendar year 2021, airlines reported 155 tarmac delays of more than three hours on domestic flights and nine tarmac delays of more than four hours on international flights.
Airlines are required to have and adhere to assurances that they will not allow aircraft to remain on the tarmac for more than three hours for domestic flights and four hours for international flights without providing passengers with an opportunity to disembark, subject to of exceptions related to safety, security and air traffic control reasons. There is also an exception for departure delays if the airline begins to return the aircraft to a suitable disembarkation point to disembark passengers by these times.
The extended tarmac delays are being investigated by the Ministry.
Incorrectly processed baggage
In December 2022, marketing carriers handled 40.4 million bags and posted a mishandled bag rate of 1.09%, higher than the rate of 0.51% in November 2022 and higher than the rate of 0.66% in December 2019 before the pandemic. Of the industry-wide 1.09% mishandling rate in December 2022, 26.68% of mishandling was attributed to Southwest.
For calendar year 2022, carriers posted a mishandled bag rate of 0.64%, a higher rate than the 2019 rate of 0.59%.
In the previous three calendar year reports (2019 to 2022), the Department calculated the mishandled bag rate based on the number of mishandled bags per 1,000 checked bags. The Ministry now displays data on mishandled baggage as a percentage (ie per 100 bags placed). This is consistent with the way the percentage of mishandled wheelchairs and scooters is calculated and displayed.
Improperly operated wheelchairs and scooters
In December 2022, marketing carriers reported inspecting 62,086 wheelchairs and scooters and mishandling 1,008 for a rate of 1.62% mishandled wheelchairs and scooters, up from November’s level of 1.48% mishandled 2022 and higher than the 1.53% mishandling level in pre-pandemic December 2019.
For calendar year 2022, carriers posted a mishandled wheelchair and scooter rate of 1.54%, equal to 2019’s rate of 1.54%.
Rushing/overselling
The bump/oversold data, unlike data for other air carriers, is reported quarterly, not monthly.
For Q4 2022, the 10 reported US marketing carriers posted an involuntary denied boarding or bumping rate of 0.30 per 10,000 passengers, up from Q4 2021’s rate of 0.23. and higher than the ratio of 0.16 in Q4 2019.
For calendar year 2022, carriers reported a bump/overbook ratio of 0.32 per 10,000 passengers, up from 2019’s pre-pandemic ratio of 0.24.
Animal incidents
For the 2022 calendar year, carriers reported seven animal deaths, one other animal injury and one lost animal for a total of nine incidents, down from the 19 incident reports filed for the 2019 calendar year before the pandemic.
For calendar year 2022, 188,223 animals were transported by airlines, for a rate of 0.48 incidents per 10,000 animals transported. In the pre-pandemic year 2019, 404,556 animals were transported, at a rate of 0.47 incidents per 10,000 animals transported.
In December 2022, carriers reported no incidents involving the death, injury or loss of an animal during air travel, a decrease from both the one report filed in November 2022 and the two reports filed in December 2019 before the pandemic.
Consumers may file consumer or civil air travel complaints online at http://airconsumer.dot.gov/escomplaint/ConsumerForm.cfm or by voice mail at (202) 366-2220, or may submit a complaint to the Department for Aviation Consumer Protection, US Department of Transportation, C-75, W96-432, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20590.
ATCR and other aviation consumer issues of public interest can be found at https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer.
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