U.S. air service complaints decline WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? U.S. consumer complaints about air service dropped by nearly half in the first three months of 2003 compared to the same period last year, the Transportation Department reported Monday. The government received 1,673 complaints about lost bags, canceled or late flights and other service-related shortcomings from January through March. That figure compared with 3,044 in 2002, a 45% drop, agency figures showed. Officials said the drop may be due to the industry's financial troubles, which have prompted airlines to slash the number of flights offered, easing congestion at major airports, especially in the east and Midwest. The 17 U.S. carriers reporting performance statistics posted an 82% on-time record in March, better than February's 76% rate. In March, they canceled 1.7% of scheduled domestic flights, compared with 4% in February. Rough winter weather in the Northeast prompted thousands of flight cancellations in February. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.cso.gov.tt TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************