No matter how inexpensive cheap airplane tickets or cheap vacation packages may be, little can offset the frustration experienced by passengers stranded on planes on runways for three hours or more. In April of this year there were four planes stranded on runways for over three hours vs. 81 last year during the same month and 24 in March of this year.
It looks like the airlines, motivated by fines of up to $27,500 per passengers for runway delays of over three hours (the new rule took effect April 29th), took the appropriate actions in April to minimize this practice.
Overall on-time performance also improved in April. The 18 airlines that provide information to the Transportation Department flew on-time over 85 percent in April vs. a 79 percent rate the prior year, and 80 percent in March of 10.
U.S. Airways turned in the best on-time performance of major U.S. airlines and ranked third overall behind Hawaiian and Alaska Airlines. The worst on-time performance of major airlines was reported by American Airlines, with its regional airline American Eagle, last among all airlines reporting.
Enhancements in the efficient use of New York airspace contributed to more flights taking off and landing on-time. Almost 33 percent of all air traffic in the U.S. flies through the New York area. Delays there often contribute to on-time problems throughout the country.
One of the big fears of the new runway delay penalties/policy is that the airlines will cancel more flights to avoid being fined. That did not prove to be the case in April which experienced only half of the flight cancelation rate of March of 10 or April of 09.
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