3-Hour-Plus Tarmac Delays in July: Three

[Tarmac delays over three hours. Chart by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics]

A picture is seldom actually worth a thousand words, but a good chart more often is. So I'll spare the words here.

In July, three months after very tough new Transportation Department rules took effect that would fine airlines up to $25,700 per passenger for stranding them on tarmac-parked planes for over three hours, the number of so-called tarmac delays was three.

I have no doubt that the DOT rule has had its effects. But so has the trend toward better on-time performance by the airlines, with overall flight delays down in the last year.

The Transportation Department's Bureau of Transportation Statistics also released data on airline on-time performance today. Here it is:

Airline On-Time Arrival Pct July 2010

Carrier On-Time Arrival Pct.
1 Hawaiian 94.71
2 Alaska 88.65
3 United 82.96
4 US Airways 82.07
5 Mesa 80.47
6 AirTran 79.65
7 SkyWest 79.48
8 Atlantic Southeast 78.46
9 Southwest 78.37
10 American 76.65
11 Frontier 76.42
12 Pinnacle 76.39
13 Continental 76.09
14 JetBlue 75.17
15 American Eagle 70.24
16 Delta 69.92
17 Comair 69.12
18 ExpressJet 68.58
All Airlines 76.69


Airline On-Time Arrival Pct Jan-July 2010

Carrier On-Time Arrival Pct.
1 Hawaiian 91.70
2 Alaska 88.55
3 United 83.28
4 US Airways 82.21
5 Mesa 81.90
6 AirTran 80.32
7 Southwest 80.24
8 Continental 80.07
9 Frontier 79.87
10 SkyWest 79.69
11 Atlantic Southeast 79.21
12 American 77.10
13 JetBlue 77.05
14 Pinnacle 76.85
15 Delta 76.49
16 ExpressJet 74.03
17 American Eagle 73.91
18 Comair 71.04
All Airlines 78.83
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

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