Business | Aviation
Fewer flights but they're increasingly on time
Complaints about airline service and incidents of mishandled baggage fall sharply.
- By Peter Pae, Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service
- Published: 23:02 July 12, 2009
Los Angeles: Airlines are still crowded, in-flight service is marginal and there are fewer flights to choose from. But, hey, at least planes are increasingly on time.
With fewer flights overall, US airlines for the first five months in 2009 posted their best on-time performance since 2003 with fewer delays and cancellations.
Complaints about airline service and incidents of mishandled baggage fell sharply as well, according to data compiled by the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
Airlines have been cutting flights since summer 2008, first in response to rising fuel prices, then to cope with a slump in air travel. In May, nearly 81 per cent of all flights arrived on time, compared with 79 per cent a year earlier.
Hawaiian Airlines topped the list with little over 90 per cent of its May flights arriving on time. At the bottom was Comair, a regional affiliate of Delta Air Lines, with only 65 per cent of its flights on time.
Passenger complaints were down nearly 26 per cent, while mishandled baggage incidents fell to 3.56 per 1,000 passengers from 4.6 a year earlier.
The timing may seem a bit off with business travel in the dumps, but in late September British Airways plans to launch a daily all-business-class service between New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and little-known London City Airport.
The airline is hoping to draw business travelers who want to avoid London's crowded Heathrow airport and fly into a smaller airport near London's financial district.
Because of the size of the airport, the airline said, passengers have the convenience of checking in 15 minutes before departure.
The service will be on Airbus A318 aircraft configured to fit just 32 business-class seats. The plane, typically used by low-cost carriers, usually has about 100 coach seats. The flights will be the first long-haul international services to operate from London City Airport, the closest airport to the city.
In a nod to aviation history, the flights will be dubbed "BA001" and "BA002," codes that were used by the supersonic Concorde before it was grounded in 2003.
Allegiant Air, the Las Vegas-based carrier that in May began flights from Los Angeles to smaller cities west of the Mississippi with one-way fares as low as $9 (Dh33), said it will stop flying between Los Angeles and Monterey, California on September 6.
"Unfortunately, due to lack of market demand, we will end our Los Angeles service from Monterey," said Allegiant President Maurice J. Gallagher Jr.
The airline will continue its scheduled service from Monterey to Las Vegas and San Diego, Gallagher said.
Starwood Hotels and Resorts will begin rolling out special conference rooms where hotel guests can hold virtual meetings.
Dubbed "TelePresence" suites, users pay a rental fee to use the specially equipped room to hold a video teleconference meetings with others who may be across the street or across the Pacific Ocean.
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