December Holiday Travel Down 70 Percent
Labeling airline on-time holiday performance numbers during December “nothing less than abysmal,” FlightStats (www.flightstats.com) says Christmastime delays “pulled the numbers for the month down below 70 percent for the first time all year.”
The best performing major U.S. airline for December? FlightStats says it U.S. Airways takes the prize with 71.42 percent of its flights at the gate on time (within 15 minutes of schedule). None of the other major carriers exceeded 70 percent on-time for December 2008. American Airlines flights were on time 68.44 percent; discount airline Southwest at 67.12 percent; United Airlines at 66.65 percent;, Northwest at 65.06 percent; Delta Air Lines at 64.88 percent; and Continental Airlines at 63.31 percent.
For the record, some airports were downright difficult to get to on time in December. The worst offenders according to FlightStats: Rome (FCO) with a wretched 41.18 percent on-time record; Newark (EWR) at 50.93 percent; Seattle/Tacoma (SEA) with 54.9 percent; Chicago O’Hare (ORD) at 55.13 percent, and Toronto (YYZ) with 56.55 percent.
Later this week, Cheapflights will lay out FlightStats’ assessment of the best—and worst—on-time airports and airlines for 2008 as a whole.
© Cheapflights Ltd Jerry Chandler