"On-time flights fall at airports nationally"

Sunday, December 19, 2004

On-time flights fall at airports nationally 
Southwest easily worst in Phoenix
By Brahm Resnik and Dawn Gilbertson
The Arizona Republic


Pack some patience if you're flying out of town for the holidays.

Flight delays, which eased after Sept. 11, 2001, when travel plunged and
airlines reduced service, have come roaring back. 

The percentage of late departures and arrivals among U.S. carriers
nationwide are on track for their worst year since 2000, according to an
Arizona Republic analysis of federal flight statistics. Sixteen percent of
flights departed 15 minutes or more behind schedule in the first 10 months
of the year, up from under 13 percent last year. Flight arrivals are even
tardier, with one in five landing late. The numbers in Phoenix are higher in
some cases. advertisement  

Delays have become so common, frequent flier Melissa Melfy and the passenger
sitting next to her did a double take when their Southwest Airlines flight
from Albuquerque to Phoenix left on time this week.

"We both made the comment, "Wow, we're on time,' " said the 32-year-old
apartment investment manager, who travels weekly. "We were both amazed at
that."

The numbers from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of
Transportation Statistics portend increased frustration for travelers
already grumpy about security lines and checkpoint hassles. 

Airlines blame a surging number of passengers, busier skies, a stretched
air-traffic-control system, poor weather and, in some cases, each other.

The emerging gridlock recalls the rash of late flights and cancellations at
the nation's airports in the late 1990s when travelers took to the skies in
record numbers.

A return to those days could revive expensive solutions, including an
overhaul of the nation's air-traffic-control system, with travelers footing
the bill.

"It's a very high level of concern," said Joe Chronic, vice president of
flight operations for Tempe-based America West.

Despite glorious weather in the Phoenix area, travelers here are anything
but immune to the increased delays. Sky Harbor International Airport ranked
seventh-worst in the country among 31 major airports in on-time departures
from January through October. On-time arrivals also have fallen, but the
airline ranks much higher nationally, coming in at No. 9. 

The tardiest airline this year in Phoenix, by a long shot, is Southwest
Airlines. It is the second-busiest carrier at Sky Harbor but next year is
due to slip past America West. Both will have more than 190 daily
departures. 

One out of four Southwest flights, or 25 percent, left late in the first 10
months of the year. That's up from 18.4 percent in 2003 and is way above
Southwest's national average of 18 percent. Fewer than 17 percent of America
West's flights out of Phoenix were late. (Nationally, America West fares
worse than Southwest in on-time rankings.)

Even worse for Southwest in Phoenix, it has the top 10 chronically tardy
flights out of Sky Harbor. The worst of the worst: Flight 2297 to Columbus,
Ohio. 

Before the route was juggled in September, the passengers on that regularly
packed plane departed late on seven of every 10 takeoffs, according to the
BTS statistics.

Bill Owen, senior schedule planner for Southwest, notes that delays are up
across the board for all airlines because they have added flights this year
and fare sales packed the planes. U.S. airlines carried 7.5 percent more
passengers across the country this year and flew 3.7 percent more flights
through September.

"This is a problem of us as an industry, not just us as Southwest," he said.
"There's only so much runway space. There's only so much you can do" to
avoid delays.

America West's Chronic agrees.

"It almost circles back to the summer of 2000 when things got so bad," he
said. "We're growing right back into the same problem." 

Owen said Southwest recently took steps to improve its on-time numbers. On
Oct. 31, it drastically revamped its flight schedules, with 80 percent of
its departures changing by 15 minutes or more. "It couldn't have been any
more in our face than if it was an angry mother-in-law," Owen said.

One industry watcher who compiles an annual ranking of airline quality says
Southwest's chronically late takeoffs are a product of the airline's
operating philosophy.

"Southwest has a corporate policy that while they attempt to be on time . .
. if they don't, it's 'Who cares, we have another one leaving in half an
hour,' " says Dean Headley, a professor at Wichita State University who is
co-author of the annual Airline Quality Survey. "It's bittersweet for the
consumer."

Despite poor on-time numbers, the low-fare airline, flown by more passengers
than any other airline in the country, was ranked third this year for
customer satisfaction in the Airline Quality Survey. 

"You puzzle because they've got to be screwing up somehow," Headley says.
"Something about the way they do their thing keeps people from being
unhappy."

Despite the increased delays at Southwest and other carriers, some
passengers say they haven't noticed chronic problems.

Ed Pontier, senior vice president of a Virginia real estate company with a
project in downtown Phoenix, said he has had just one delay all year. And he
flies several times a month.

One reason that passengers aren't complaining is that tougher airport
security is their No. 1 hassle post-9/11.

"There's enough other things for people to worry about," said Mo Garfinkle,
a strategic consultant for the airline industry.

Another: Airfares are relatively cheap.

Fountain Hills hotel executive Tom Sephton and his family were thankful for
a Southwest delay last week. They were running late for a flight from
Phoenix to North Carolina on Wednesday, mostly because his wife and daughter
were stopped for extra security screening. They arrived at the gate about
the time the 10:35 a.m. flight was scheduled to leave. They were greeted
with a "delayed" sign and breathed a sigh of relief.

"There are good things about delays," he said.


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