Airline delays and cancellations rise due to hurricane | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Airline delays and cancellations rise due to hurricane

WASHINGTON - Partly because of Hurricane Harvey, which shut down both major Houston airports for several days, cancelled flights surged and delays increased on U.S. airlines in August.

The airlines, however, seem to be losing track of fewer bags, and consumer complaints are down from a year ago.

The U.S. Transportation Department said Tuesday that the dozen airlines covered in its monthly air travel consumer report cancelled 2.2 per cent of their flights, up from 1.4 per cent in August of last year.

The department said that 77.1 per cent of domestic flights arrived on time, down from 77.6 per cent in August 2016. The government counts a flight on time if it arrives within 14 minutes of schedule.

Hawaiian Airlines had the best rating among the 12 largest U.S. airlines, with 93 per cent of its flights on time. The airline benefits from often-favourable weather and many short flights among the islands in its home state.

Virgin America had the worst rate, followed closely by JetBlue Airways. Both carriers were late more than 30 per cent of the time.

Nine domestic flights and two international flights were stuck on the ground so long that the airlines involved could be fined. The department said it was investigating all 11 incidents.

Fewer bags were lost, stolen or damaged. The department said there were 2.45 mishandled bags for every 1,000 passengers, down from the 3.15 rate in August 2016.

The Transportation Department said it received 1,220 consumer complaints about U.S. airlines, down from 1,603 a year earlier.

The airlines reported three deaths and one injury to animals carried on their planes.

News from © The Associated Press, 2017
The Associated Press

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