More Flights On-Time With Less Luggage Lost in November 2016

Department of Transportation data reveals banner month for the airline industry.

Flyers traveling across the United States had a better chance of getting to their destination on time and with all of their luggage intact in November 2016, thanks to the performance of their airlines. The findings were released in the January 2017 Air Travel Consumer Report, issued monthly by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

According to the data, 86.5 percent of flights arrived on time to their destination airport, a one-percent improvement from each of the previous two months. In the 12-month period ending in November 2016, the aviation industry had an 81.6 percent on-time rate.

Among the carriers reporting data to the DOT, Delta Air Lines performed the best among all legacy carriers in November 2016, with a 91.4 on-time rate. United performed second best, with an 86.1 percent on-time rate, followed closely by American with on-time arrivals 85.4 percent of the time. Southwest Airlines tied with United for on-time arrivals. Overall, Hawaiian Airlines, Delta and Alaska Airlines were the top three performing airlines in November 2016.

The number of lost baggage also went down in the report, compared to the same time period last year. In November 2016, there were 2.02 baggage reports for every 1,000 passengers aboard commercial flights, down by over one-half of a report from November 2015. Among the legacy carriers, Delta once again had the least amount of luggage reports, with 12,468 baggage reports among over 10 million passengers. United came in second, with 12,665 reports among 6.5 million passengers, while American had 23,105 reports among 9.7 million passengers. Southwest Airlines received 31,000 baggage reports for over 12 million passengers aboard their aircraft in November.

In addition, less passengers are also getting bumped from overbooked flights. In the first nine months of 2016, 327,702 passengers accepted a voluntary boarding denial, a decrease of over 50,000 compared to the same time period in 2015.

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