Delta most late US carrier

DELTA Airlines has been highlighted by the US Department of Transportation (DoT) as the most persistently late US carrier. Performance records show Delta was late 80 per cent of the time during February.

Using data from the 19 US-based carriers that submitted their on-time performance, the DoT found that overall on-time arrival was 82.6 per cent compared to 68.6 per cent in February 2008 and 77 per cent in 2007.

The worst delayed flights were Delta’s Savannah to Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale to Atlanta and Atlanta to Newark routes, which were all late 94.1 per cent of the time.

Delta has been trying to cut capacity to meet demand but traffic continues to drop faster than the carrier can keep pace. Its cargo traffic saw a 36.7 per cent drop in March compared to last year.

Hawaiian Airlines was most on time at 91.2 per cent, Southwest Airlines was second at 88.3 per cent and Pinnacle Airlines was third at 86.8 per cent.

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