Airline Performance Gets Lowest Numbers In 13 Years

Flights on U.S.-based air carriers suffered more delays in the first four months of this year than in any year since the government began tracking the numbers in 1995, according to figures released by the Department of Transportation.

Of the 2,436,759 flights made between January and April of this year, 72.46 percent were on time, the department said Monday. Last year, the percentage stood at 77.18 percent.

The percentage is lower than the previous nadir, the first four months of 1996, which had 72.64 percent of 1,753,065 flights on time.

"It's not a surprise at all to me," said Kate Hanni of the Coalition for An Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights, who notes that 7 of the 11 coast-to-coast flights she has made since February suffered delays. "It's boding horribly for customers now."

Some of the nation's busiest airports ranked low in on-time performance in the latest report. New York's LaGuardia ranked 31 on the list with 58.10 percent on-time arrival rating for the first four months of 2007. Newark Liberty International Airport came in last, ranked 32, with a 55.04 percent on-time arrival rating.

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