Originally Posted by tuolumne
As far as DOT rankings go, United usually is consistnatly on the top, and was the only legacy in 2005 to be in the top three for all categories.
As promised, I went and took a closer look at your claim. I didn't recall United ranking very high last year, but I wanted to be sure. I have compiled the data below for on-time arrival, delayed or missing baggage and complaints to the DOT. The Department of Transportation compiles these data and publishes them monthly.
Here is a link to the website.
The conclusion is that United never ranked number 1 or 2 in any category for any month in 2005; the carrier ranked number 3 in two consecutive months for fewest baggage mishaps. Continental ranked number 2 in January for on-time arrivals; the carrier also ranked number 3 in April for fewest baggage problems.
In 2005, United ranked number 8 and Continental placed 9th for best record in on-time arrivals. Continental ranked number 8 and United ranked 6th for fewest baggage complaints. For fewest passenger complaints to the DOT, Continental ranked number 9, while United was in 14th place. The month-by-month information is reported next.
The tables below give the rank of each of the two airlines by month for the three categories discussed earlier.
Ranking for on-time arrivals in 2005
______UA CO
Jan 05 15 2
Feb 05 5 10
Mar 05 5 15
Apr 05 7 14
May 05 17 11
Jun 05 15 7
July 05 8 11
Aug 05 6 11
Sep 05 11 17
Oct 05 6 16
Nov 05 9 11
Dec 05 13 9
Ranking for fewest baggage problems in 2005
______UA CO
Jan 05 10 8
Feb 05 9 7
Mar 05 15 13
Apr 05 4 3
May 05 10 6
Jun 05 11 5
July 05 3 8
Aug 05 3 8
Sep 05 6 9
Oct 05 5 8
Nov 05 4 6
Dec 05 10 4
Ranking for fewest complaints to the DOT in 2005
______UA CO
Jan 05 14 11
Feb 05 14 15
Mar 05 14 10
Apr 05 10 17
May 05 13 14
Jun 05 17 10
July 05 16 7
Aug 05 19 11
Sep 05 12 14
Oct 05 11 18
Nov 05 14 16
Dec 05 18 12
Continental has nothing to be proud of here. The performance is very poor.
Someone in Smith Street needs to start cracking the whip. There's not really much difference between the two carriers. However, I would like to focus on Continental and ask "why the inconsistency?" and "what needs to be done to improve this performance?"