The U.S. Department of Transportation today released its Air Travel Consumer Report (ATCR) on airline operational data compiled for the month of May 2022 for on-time performance, consumer complaints received, mishandled baggage, and mishandled wheelchairs and scooters. There was a 15% decline in complaints against airlines from April to May, however complaints are still 200 percent above pre-pandemic levels. Read the rest of this entry »

The U.S. Department of Transportation today released its Air Travel Consumer Report (ATCR) on airline operational data compiled for the month of February 2022 for on-time performance, mishandled baggage, mishandled wheelchairs and scooters, complaints received, and oversales.

The ATCR is designed to assist consumers with information on the quality of services provided by airlines. It also contains information on complaints involving passenger and baggage security screening received by the Transportation Security Administration.

In February, the COVID-19 pandemic continued to result in significant changes to airline schedules and operations. The 496,531 flights operated in February 2022 were 87.9% of the 564,614 flights operated in pre-pandemic February 2019. Operated flights in February 2022 were up 50.5% year-over-year from the 329,969 flights operated in February 2021 and down 6.0% month-over-month from the 528,070 flights operated in January 2022.

In February 2022, the 10 marketing network carriers reported 519,952 scheduled domestic flights, 23,421 (4.5 %) of which were canceled. In February 2021, the same airlines reported 350,170 scheduled domestic flights, 20,201 (5.8%) of which were canceled. In January 2022, airlines scheduled 563,737 domestic flights, of which 35,667 (6.3%) were canceled.

February 2022 On-Time Arrival

In February 2022, reporting marketing carriers posted an on-time arrival rate of 76.6%, up from 75.3% in January 2022 and 73.8% in pre-pandemic February 2019. The year-to-date on-time arrival rate for 2022 is 75.9%.

Highest Marketing Carrier On-Time Arrival Rates February 2022 (ATCR Table 1)

1.    Hawaiian Airlines – 87.1%
2.    Delta Air Lines Network – 82.8%
3.    Alaska Airlines Network– 82.8%

Lowest Marketing Carrier On-Time Arrival Rates February 2022 (ATCR Table 1)

1.    JetBlue Airways – 61.8%
2.    Allegiant Air – 65.1%
3.    Frontier Airlines – 68.0%

February 2022 Flight Cancellations

In February 2022, reporting marketing carriers canceled 4.5% of their scheduled domestic flights, lower than the rate of 6.3% in January 2022 and 3.1% in pre-pandemic February 2019.

Lowest Marketing Carrier Rates of Canceled Flights February 2022 (ATCR Table 6)

1.    Hawaiian Airlines – 0.2%
2.    Alaska Airlines Network – 1.5%
3.    Delta Air Lines Network– 2.4%

Highest Marketing Carrier Rates of Canceled Flights February 2022 (ATCR Table 6)

1.    American Airlines Network – 7.2%
2.    Allegiant Air – 5.7%
3.    JetBlue Airways – 5.1%

Mishandled Baggage

In February 2022, reporting marketing carriers handled 32.0 million bags and posted a mishandled baggage rate of 0.60, a lower rate than the January 2022 rate of 0.81% and the pre-pandemic February 2019 rate of 0.63%.

In the previous three calendar year reports (2019 to 2022), the Department calculated the mishandled baggage rate based on the number of mishandled bags per 1,000 checked bags. The Department is now displaying the mishandled baggage data as a percentage (i.e., per 100 bags enplaned).  This is consistent with the manner that the mishandled wheelchairs and scooters rate is calculated and displayed.

Bumping/Oversales

Bumping/oversales data, unlike other air carrier data, are reported quarterly rather than monthly.

For the fourth quarter of 2021, the 10 U.S. reporting marketing carriers posted an involuntary denied boarding, or bumping, rate of 0.23 per 10,000 passengers, higher than the rate of 0.16 in the third quarter of 2021 and the rate of 0.03 in the fourth quarter of 2020.

The full report can be found here: https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/air-travel-consumer-report-february-2022-numbers