Airlines’ on-time, lost bag rates worsen

WASHINGTON – Air travelers had a tough year getting to their destinations on time – and with bags in hand.

Airlines’ on-time performance dropped for the fifth year in a row in 2006, with one in four flights arriving late or not at all, according to data released Wednesday by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

It was the worst year since 2000, when bad weather and high demand kept 27 percent of flights from getting to their destinations on time.

The airlines also mishandled a massive amount of luggage – 4 million bags, or 6.7 for every 1,000 passengers, the industry’s worst rate since 1990. Most industry analysts agree that the spike in lost bags stemmed from security measures that prompted passengers to check more luggage.

There was less consensus on the increase in delays. “We had a very bad weather year last year, and that’s one of the reasons 2006 hit a record number of delays,” Marion Blakey, head of the Federal Aviation Administration, said at a news conference last week.

Statistics seem to undercut the weather argument, according to consultants and academics. The percentage of flight delays caused by weather has actually been dropping, to 45 percent last year, despite blizzards during holiday travel.

In 2004, half of all delays were caused by weather, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, which is part of the Transportation Department.

The increase in delays most likely resulted from airlines cutting the time aircraft are allowed on the ground before their next departure, said Ahmed Abdelghany, an assistant professor of airline management at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida.

Carriers have also aggressively scheduled flights at peak times, causing congestion at airports, Abdelghany said. Worker cutbacks have contributed, too, he and other experts said.