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Air Travel Consumer Report: July 2019 Numbers

Thursday, September 19, 2019

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) today released its September 2019 Air Travel Consumer Report (ATCR) on reporting marketing and operating air carrier data compiled for the month of July 2019.  The full consumer report and other aviation consumer matters of interest to the public can be found at http://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer.

July On-Time Performance

In July 2019, reporting marketing carriers posted an on-time arrival rate of 76.9%, up from both the 73.3% on-time rate in June 2019 and from 76.0% in July 2018.

Chart of July 2019 flights arriving on-time by marketing carrier

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

  1. Hawaiian Airlines Network – 88.4%
  2. Alaska Airlines Network – 84.9%
  3. Delta Air Lines Network – 80.3%

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

  1. Frontier Airlines – 66.0%
  2. JetBlue Airways – 70.2%
  3. United Airlines Network – 72.2%

July Cancellations

In July 2019, reporting marketing carriers canceled 2.1% of their scheduled domestic flights, equal to the rate of 2.1% in June 2019 but a higher rate than 1.8% in July 2018.

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

  1. Allegiant Air – 0.3%
  2. Hawaiian Airlines Network – 0.4%
  3. Alaska Airlines Network – 0.6%

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

  1. American Airlines Network – 3.5%
  2. United Airlines Network – 2.5%
  3. Frontier Airlines – 2.3%

Tarmac Delays

In July 2019, airlines reported 59 tarmac delays of more than three hours on domestic flights, compared to 49 such tarmac delays reported in June 2019 and 29 tarmac delays reported in July 2018. In July 2019, airlines reported three tarmac delays of more than four hours on international flights, compared to two tarmac delays reported in June 2019 and one tarmac delay reported in July 2018.  Extended tarmac delays are investigated by the Department.

Domestic Flights with Longest Tarmac Delays Exceeding Three Hours (ATCR Table 8)

  1. United Airlines flight 5009 (operated by Commutair) from Newark, N.J. (EWR) to Greensboro, N.C. (GSO), 7/7/19 – delayed 4 hours and 45 minutes on the tarmac at Newark.
  2. United Airlines flight 2394 from Newark, N.J. (EWR) to Los Angeles International (LAX), 7/22/19 – 4 hours and 34 minutes on the tarmac at Newark.
  3. United Airlines flight 1783 from Newark, N.J. (EWR)  to Tampa, Fla. (TPA), 7/22/19 – delayed 4 hours and 21 minutes on the tarmac at Newark.

International Flights with Longest Tarmac Delays Exceeding Four Hours (ATCR Table 8A)

  1. Eurowings flight 1182 from Düsseldorf, Germany (DUS), to Miami (MIA), 7/23/19 – delayed 5 hours and 36 minutes on the tarmac at Fort Lauderdale (FLL), after being diverted.
  2. United Airlines flight 179 from Newark, N.J. (EWR), to Hong Kong (HKG), 7/22/19 – delayed 4 hours and 27 minutes on the tarmac at Newark.
  3. Air China flight 982 from New York JFK (JFK), to Beijing, China, (PEK), 7/17/19 – delayed 4 hours and 4 minutes on the tarmac at New York JFK.

Mishandled Baggage

In July 2019, the reporting marketing carriers posted a mishandled baggage rate of 6.33 mishandled bags per 1,000 checked bags, a lower rate than June 2019’s rate of 7.07 per 1,000 checked bags.

See the September 2019 Air Travel Consumer Report for mishandled baggage numbers by airline.

Mishandled Wheelchairs and Scooters

In July 2019, reporting marketing airlines reported checking 66,516 wheelchairs and scooters and mishandling 1,143, a rate of 1.72% mishandled, compared to the rate of 1.54% mishandled in June 2019.  In December 2018, DOT reported mishandled wheelchairs and scooters data for carriers for the first time.

See the September 2019 Air Travel Consumer Report for mishandled wheelchair and scooter numbers by airline.

Bumping/Oversales

Bumping/oversales data, unlike other air carrier data, are reported quarterly rather than monthly.  Second quarter 2019 bumping/oversales data were released in the August 2019 Air Travel Consumer Report.  January-September 2019 and third quarter 2019 bumping/oversales data will be available in the November 2019 Air Travel Consumer Report.

See the August 2019 Air Travel Consumer Report for denied boarding numbers by airline.

Incidents Involving Animals

In July 2019, U.S. airlines reported one incident involving the death, injury, or loss of an animal while traveling by air, up from the zero reports filed in July 2018 and equal to the one report filed in June 2019.  July’s incident involved injury to one animal.

Complaints About Airline Service

In July 2019, DOT received 1,875 complaints about airline service from consumers, up 12.6% from the total of 1,665 filed in July 2018 and up 18.2% from the 1,586 received in June 2019. 

Complaints About Treatment of Disabled Passengers

In July 2019, the Department received a total of 105 disability-related complaints, up from both the 82 complaints received in July 2018 and the 70 complaints received in June 2019.

Complaints About Discrimination

In July 2019, the Department received 12 complaints alleging discrimination – seven regarding race, three based on national origin, one regarding color, and one related to sexual discrimination.  This is down from the 14 complaints recorded in July 2018, but up from the 10 complaints received in June 2019.  All complaints alleging discrimination are investigated to determine if there has been a violation(s) of the passenger’s civil rights.

Consumers may file air travel consumer or civil rights complaints online at http://airconsumer.dot.gov/escomplaint/ConsumerForm.cfm, by voicemail at (202) 366-2220, or by TTY at (202) 366-0511.  They may also mail a complaint to the Aviation Consumer Protection Division, U.S. Department of Transportation, C-75, W96-432, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20590.

Consumers who want on-time performance data for specific flights should call their airline’s reservation number or their travel agent.  This information is available on the computerized reservation systems used by these agents.  The information is also available on the appropriate carrier’s website.

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DOT 59-19