United late most often among top 10 U.S. airlines

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Hobbled by labor disputes for much of the summer, United Airlines arrived late more times in September than any of the largest 10 U.S. airlines, the Department of Transportation said Thursday.

While overall timeliness for the group of airlines improved somewhat, to 78.1 percent in September from 70 percent in August, the department said the world's largest airline -- United -- ranked last with only 71.8 percent of its flights arriving on time.

The rate for the group overall -- led by Trans World Airlines, which landed on time 85.5 percent of the time -- was still below September 1999's 79.3 percent record.

The department said it had also released a new fact sheet Thursday with tips for fliers, advising them that early and non-stop flights are less delay-prone than later and multi-leg ones.

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The United States suffered the worst summer on record for flight delays this year as storms overwhelmed efforts by the Federal Aviation Administration and airlines to work together to reroute aircraft around the worst weather.

Chicago-based United, a unit of UAL Corp. , added to consumer frustration by canceling thousands of flights during labor talks with pilots, which ended with a tentative deal in August.

Air traffic control delays improved in July, but it was still the third worst month on record as thunderstorms in the eastern third of the United States were only partly offset by new techniques for rerouting aircraft.

The FAA has been criticized for being too slow to deploy new air traffic control technologies, but a recent report to Congress said airlines often knowingly scheduled more flights at peak times than airports could handle.

The Thursday report said the top 10 airlines canceled flights less overall than in August, with Southwest Airlines cutting only 0.6 percent of its flights for the lowest rate and United canceling 3.9 percent at the other end of the scale.

Baggage handling, although not as efficient as September 1999, improved from August to September 2000. From January to September 2000, 5.13 bags per 1,000 were mishandled, compared to 5.24 bags per 1,000 from January to September 1999.

Consumer complaints to the department also dropped sharply in September to 1,588 from 2,911 in August and 3,146 a year ago.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Federal Aviation Administration
U.S. Department of Transportation
United Airlines
TWA
Southwest Airlines

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