Okay, ticket prices are up and airplanes are packed – but the news isn’t all sour. FlightStats says North American “cancellations were down measurably for the second straight month.” That meant more folks made it home in time for family and food.
FlightStats says airlines axed 6,692 flights in November compared to 9,304 in October. The result is a not-bad-at-all on-time arrival mark of 80.8 percent for the month.
In search of the best-performing major airline during November? Delta was on top, with an 88.25 percent on-time rate. Southwest, by contrast, racked up the next-to-last-best on-time mark. Seventy-six percent of its flights arrived on time. Last on the list among North American carriers was Air Canada, with a 65.83 percent on-time tally.
Airports have a lot to do with whether or not your flight’s on time. Topping the list of major North American aerodromes in November was Salt Lake City International. Eighty-nine percent of its flights pushed back on time. Portland, Ore. didn’t do badly either (88.41 percent), nor did Minneapolis/St. Paul (88.29 percent).
If you flew from, or through, Miami International it was another story. FlightStats says just 60.01 percents of MIA’s departures were on time. Other poor performers included Dallas/Fort Worth (62.23 percent), and Chicago O’Hare (68.90 percent).
Flying abroad? If you headed to Tokyo your best bet was to book a flight into Haneda International, where 94.95 percent of November’s flights left the gate on time. If you traveled in Europe, and the UK was your departure point, London Stansted was lovely. 88.13 percent of its flights departed on time during November.
All of this matters, precisely because you often have a choice when it comes to connecting hubs. Despite the ingrained interconnectededness of the national air transportation system, you can change planes more rapidly in some places than others.
What’s your favorite connecting hub? Let us know.
Story by Jerry Chandler
(Image: Bob Brown)
