Airlines for America (A4A) Reports U.S. Airlines Deliver Improved On-Time Performance, Record Baggage Handling

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Jul 10, 2012, 11:31 ET

WASHINGTON, July 10, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- For the eighth consecutive month, U.S. airlines have improved their on-time performance and delivered the best-ever May baggage-handling results, Airlines for America (A4A), the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines, announced today.

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According to the Department of Transportation (DOT) Air Travel Consumer Report released today, 83.4 percent of flights arrived within 15 minutes of scheduled arrival time in May 2012 – a 6 percentage point improvement from the same month last year. The industry has posted year-over-year gains in on-time arrivals for each of the past eight months.

"Our member airlines are systematically improving their operations, focused on what matters most to customers: arriving safely on time and with their bags," said A4A President and CEO Nicholas E. Calio. "Mild weather has helped as have operations that are focused on getting planes that are often full during the busy summer travel season out on time."

Notably in May, 99.72 percent of all U.S. airline passengers had their bags properly delivered, an all-time record for any May since the government began keeping records in 1987; the previous record was set in May 2010. The May baggage-handling performance also represented the 12th consecutive month of year-over-year improvement.

ABOUT A4A

Annually, commercial aviation helps drive more than $1 trillion in U.S. economic activity and nearly 10 million U.S. jobs. A4A airline members and their affiliates transport more than 90 percent of all U.S. airline passenger and cargo traffic. For more information about the airline industry, visit www.airlines.org and follow us on Twitter @airlinesdotorg.

SOURCE Airlines for America