Airline performance up on schedules, baggage

August 09, 2012

Good news for air travelers. You’re more likely to arrive on time with your luggage. KJZZ’s Al Macias reports the airlines are on pace to have their best performance since 1984.

Nearly 84 percent of domestic flights arrived within 15 minutes of their scheduled time in the first half of this year.

The Department of Transportation says that’s due to a combination of good weather and fewer flights. The recession led to fewer people flying and prompted airlines to ground planes, clearing up airspace. Major hubs like New York, Chicago and Minneapolis had much less snow this winter, meaning fewer delays.

Airlines say those factors and new technology helped to improve luggage handling. Virgin Airlines scored the best losing less than one out of every thousand bags handled.

U.S. Airways, based in Tempe, had the fourth best record, mishandling a little over two bags per thousand and Southwest was 10th on the list mishandling fewer than three bags per thousand.

An industry report says luggage is most likely to get lost when transferring from one flight to another.