Data from the US Department of Transportation (DOT) reveals domestic cancelations in the first three months of 2023 were considerably lower than in the same period last year. Its latest consumer report also sheds light on on-time performance (OTP) and mishandled baggage rates in the country.
US flight cancelations go down
The DOT's Air Travel Consumer Report (ATCR) for March 2023 and the first quarter of 2023 shows cancelations were below the 2% mark over the first three months of the year. During this period, US carriers canceled 1.7% of scheduled domestic flights, a major decrease from the 4.1% cancelation rate seen over the first quarter of 2022 - this is also trending lower than the 2.7% rate for the entirety of 2022.
There were 608,387 flights operated in March, a 4.64% increase on March 2022's total of 581,434. Cancelations during March hit 1.3%, an improvement on the 1.8% canceled in February and the 1.5% in March 2022. Delta and Spirit both topped the cancelations table for March with 1.7% of flights scrapped, while Hawaiian Airlines canceled the least at 0.7%
On-time performance and baggage mishandling
The percentage of flights arriving on time (within 15 minutes of scheduled arrival times) in the first quarter of 2023 was 76.89%, a slight increase from 76.35% during the same period in 2022. The top five carriers for on-time arrivals were:
- Delta Air Lines - 79.2%
- Alaska Airlines - 78.1%
- United Airlines - 76.9%
- American Airlines - 76.5%
- Southwest Airlines - 75.0%
A similar story is true of baggage mishandling rates - March 2023 saw a rate of 0.58 bags per 100 mishandled, a slight increase from 0.57 in March 2022. This is a major improvement on January 2023, when baggage was mishandled at a rate of 0.73 bags per 100 - the biggest offender in March was American Airlines (0.78), while Allegiant Air was way ahead of the rest at 0.18.
New compensation guidelines
The DOT recently unveiled EU261-style compensation guidelines that would require airlines to compensate passengers for controllable delays and cancelations - this would include expenses such as meals, hotels, and rebooking fees. The ten largest airlines in the US have already agreed to meal and rebooking fee compensation, while nine of the carriers are onboard with hotel accommodation too.
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However, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has criticized the DOT's proposals, claiming they won't help with delays and only raise airline operating costs, which would eventually pass on to the customer.
The DOT has been rather busy in the consumer protection department recently given the high rate of cancelations and delays. It issued the largest fines in its history over 2022, helping hundreds of thousands of passengers recoup hundreds of millions in compensation from carriers - since 2021, the DOT has helped air passengers recoup more than $1 billion in refunds. The department adds that it is currently investigating several domestic carriers to prevent the "unrealistic scheduling of flights."
Have you suffered any flight cancelations this year? How did the airline handle the situation? Let us know your stories in the comments.