Seventy Seven Percent...

Is 77% a C on report cards? Should that be considered average? Humm. I recently found out that only 77% of flights were on time for the month of May. Astounding because it was May, it wasn't January and O'Hare is canceling everything, it is May with only Thunderstorms and a bit of increasing traffic. How could that be the highest amount of delays in thirteen years?!

So, I did some digging on the Bureau of Transportation Statistics website. They have some great tools that will help me look at what is happening.

Here is what is interesting:
-My home airport (Des Moines) had 79% of flights on time.
-My favorite airline in Des Moines completed 75% of flights on time.
-Northworst, I mean Northwest had a 74% completion rate of flights, 7.44% which were air carrier delays.
-Frontier, whom I desperately want to come to Des Moines had a 77% flight completion rate.
-US Airways, which is becoming my least favorite airline (bring back the CRJ-900 to DSM and drop your prices to PHX) had a 67% completion rate with only 0.28% because of weather, mostly air traffic control and airline delays.
-Delta, which has been doing a much better job lately (but should add another daily SLC service from DSM) and has hubs in the NYC area like US Airways had a completion factor of 84%.
-Too bad Hawaiian Airlines doesn't make it east. They had 92% of flight on time. WOW.
-Chicago O'Hare had 75% of flights arriving on time while Chicago-Midway had 82% of flights arriving on time. Discount carriers fly to Midway, and they are on time more often. What does that mean? Southwest does a better job of arriving on time. Why?

My Conclusions:
-Everyone can expect delays because of weather. I would rather be on a plane traveling on a safe route than be struck by lightening at 30,000 feet.
-The airlines blame National Aviation System delays (also called ATC delays in airports) which are high, but not everything.
-The FAA needs a better system of handling flights.
-The airlines need to improve communication with the FAA and come up with better ways to deal with high traffic.
-CUSTOMERS SHOULD DEMAND MORE FROM AIRLINES WHEN THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT DELAYS BECAUSE OF MECHANICAL ISSUES OR OTHER DELAYS.
-UNFORTUNATELY, SINCE THE INDUSTRY ISN'T DOING WHAT IT CAN FOR A PASSENGER BILL OF RIGHTS, THE GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO STEP IN. WAY TO GO JET BLUE!