Another month, more delays

A report on flight performance in America’s aviation industry in August has just been released showing that conditions are only continuing to deteriorate in the country.

The only year when airline performance in August was worse that it was this year was in 2000. During August 2007, airlines overall flew just 71.1 per cent of their flights on time.

August was the 24th consecutive month in which the situation has worsened compared to last year. This year’s overall on-time rates between January and August are the worse they have been in 13 years.

In an effort to improve the situation, last week President Bush asked top industry regulators to look into the problem. According to Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, the delays are a result of too many flights being scheduled during peak times from busy airports.

The worst large airports for delays this year have been New York’s JFK and LaGuardia airports. Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport has one of the best rates for on time performance so far this year.

Southwest Airlines is still one of the most likely airlines to be flying on time. While US Airways improved their performance in August, even President Scott Kirby said the airline “still isn’t up to the standards that we know we can achieve.”

www.southwest.com