AIRLINE: I heard, perhaps here, that the reason the industry is leaving and arriving on time is because there are fewer planes out there in service because fewer passengers are flying. Not hard then to understand this statement. Mike Burris Cambridge, Mass --- Roger James <ejames@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Airlines' on-time performance soars > > WASHINGTON (AP) ? Despite snowstorms that hit the > East and Midwest during > the first three months of the year, airlines posted > their second-best > on-time performance since 1995, the Bureau of > Transportation Statistics > reported Monday. Bureau spokesman David Smallen said > the airlines were > prompter than in any first quarter except 2002, the > best year since the > bureau began compiling the statistic nine years ago. > During the first three > months of this year, 78.5% of flights arrived on > time, 1.7% fewer than > on-time arrivals during the corresponding period in > 2002. Late departures > rose less than 1%, to 15.5%. Smallen attributed the > overall performance to > a decline in air traffic and improvements in the > operations of the air > traffic control system. Flight cancellations jumped > 70% during the period, > to 2.34% of scheduled flights from 1.38%. > > Discount carrier JetBlue, one of the few airlines to > report a profitable > first quarter, canceled only 12 flights between > January and March, or 0.2% > of its operations. That's one-fourth the rate of > Continental, the airline > with the next best cancellation record. "That's > remarkable," said David > Stempler, president of the Air Travelers > Association. "It may be a function > of their brand-new airplanes." There also were 9% > more complaints about > mishandled baggage during the first three months of > 2003, the first quarter > the government employees screened all checked > luggage for explosives. > Complaints rose 9% to 4.76 reports per 100,000 > passengers, from 4.36 per > 100,000. > > > *************************************************** > 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 > *********************************************************