Now, last month I wrote about, what I called, a 'disturbing trend'
developing for JetBlue Airways regarding on-time. I heard from some JetBlue
employees, as well as some of their frequent flyers, who told me that bad
weather was the cause of this. Bad weather my ass.
JetBlue's on-time problems are now chronic. In fact, according to the DOT,
JetBlue is now the worst on-time carrier. To give you an example:
In the fourth quarter (Oct., Nov., Dec.) of 2003, JetBlue ranked first among
all carriers for on-time.
In the fourth quarter of 2004, JetBlue slipped to 5th.
In the first quarter (Jan., Feb., Mar.) of 2004, JetBlue ranked 2nd.
In the first quarter of 2005, JetBlue ranked 19th - dead last.
In the 12 months ending April 2004, JetBlue ranked #1.
In the 12 months ending April 2005, JetBlue has fallen to #12.
Bad weather is not to blame here. US Airways' Mainline and Express flights
encounter more bad weather than JetBlue could ever imagine. You gonna tell
me there's bad weather above New York's Kennedy (JetBlue's home) and not a
few miles away at LaGuardia? Please. For the past five months, JetBlue
ranks dead last in on-time, and I don't recall a lot of bad weather in
April. So, unless things change, dramatically, in the coming months,
JetBlue's problem is now chronic. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy your
in-seat satellite TV -- and you'll likely to have plenty of extra time to
watch the end of your favorite show.
WORST FLIGHTS OF THE MONTH:
Congratulations to Comair for having the most delayed flight for April.
Comair's flight 5322 from JFK-CLT was late nearly 97% of the time by an
average of 57 minutes.
The rest of the field:
AirTran's flight 47 from ATL-LAS was late 83% of the time by an average of
41 minutes.
Southwest's flight 1660 from LAS-PHX was late 81% of the time by an average
of 30 minutes.
AirTran's flight 576 from ATL-EWR was late 80% of the time by an average of
66 minutes.
AirTran's flight 753 from PHL-FLL was late 80% of the time by an average of
32 minutes.
US AIRWAYS' ON-TIME ARRIVAL PERCENTAGE AT THEIR HUBS AND FOCUS CITIES:
HUBS:
1- CLT ... 84.9%
2- PHL ... 78.0
FOCUS CITIES:
1- PIT ... 84.4%
2- DCA ... 83.8
3- BOS ... 80.8
4- LGA ... 76.1
5- FLL ... 66.8
FOCUS ON PHILADELPHIA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.
Well, there was a slight, and I do mean SLIGHT, improvement at PHL for
on-time arrivals for April. Last month, I told you that for March 2005, US
Airways placed 30th on the list (of the 33 major airports reported in the
DOT's report). For April, PHL was still one of the worst airports in the
country, but it moved 'up' (if you can call it that) to 29th place with an
on-time arrival percentage of 77.4. Only FLL (77.2), JFK (74.1), LGA (73.5)
and EWR (72.4) were worse.
However, when it came to on-time departures, you-know-who was the worst.
PHL posted an on-time departure percentage of 78.0, and that my friends was
the bottom of the barrel.
The worst time to arrive at PHL in April was between 10:00p-10:59p, when
only 62.4% of flights arrived on time.
The worst time to depart PHL in April was between 6:00p-6:59p, when only
64.7% of flights departed on time.
How do other airlines do for on-time arrivals at PHL you might ask?
American ... 82.3%
Continental ... 76.7
Delta ... 74.0
AirTran ... 75.1
America West ... 69.3
Northwest ... 68.3
Comair ... 81.5
United ... 72.1
Southwest ... 82.9
OVERALL NUMBER AND PERCENTAGE OF FLIGHT CANCELLATIONS BY CARRIER:
(worst to best for April)
19- Atlantic Southeast cancelled 950 flights, or 3.8% of their operations.
18- American Eagle cancelled 987 flights, or 2.3% of their operations.
17- Comair cancelled 641 flights, or 2.0% of their operations.
16- United cancelled 734 flights, or 1.9% of their operations.
15- Alaska cancelled 236 flights, or 1.9% of their operations.
14- Skywest cancelled 774 flights, or 1.8% of their operations.
13- Delta cancelled 1,016 flights, or 1.8% of their operations.
12- US Airways cancelled 459 flights, or 1.2% of their operations.
11- Independence Air cancelled 151 flights, or 1.2% of their operations.
10- AirTran cancelled 148 flights, or 0.9% of their operations.
9- ExpressJet cancelled 256 flights, or 0.8% of their operations.
8- Northwest cancelled 317 flights, or 0.7% of their operations.
7- America West cancelled 104 flights, or 0.6% of their operations.
6- American cancelled 358 flights, or 0.6% of their operations.
5- JetBlue cancelled 43 flights, or 0.5% of their operations.
4- ATA cancelled 16 flights, or 0.4% of their operations.
3- Southwest cancelled 285 flights, or 0.3% of their operations.
2- Continental cancelled 52 flights, or 0.2% of their operations.
1- Hawaiian cancelled 5 flights, or 0.1% of their operations.
(These 19 carriers cancelled a total of 7,532 flights in April, which
equates to 1.3% of their total scheduled operations. Additionally, there
were 781 diversions in April)
MISHANDLED BAGGAGE:
(Reports per 1,000 passengers - best to worst)
1- Hawaiian ... 2.90
2- Independence ... 2.91
3- Continental ... 3.05
4- United ... 3.08
5- JetBlue ... 3.10
6- Southwest ... 3.25
7- Alaska ... 3.31
8- America West ... 3.39
9- ATA ... 3.58
10- AirTran ... 3.63
11- Northwest ... 3.72
12- American ... 4.69
13- ExpressJet ... 5.19
14- Delta ... 6.51
15- American Eagle ... 7.67
16- Skywest ... 8.26
17- Comair ... 9.83
18- US Airways ... 10.91 (never underestimate the power of US)
19- Atlantic Southeast ... 15.75
(Average: 5.18 reports per 1,000 passengers)