The US Department Of Transportation
(DOT) has released its Air Travel Consumer Report (ATCR) on airline operation data for July 2024. The report is designed to help consumers find the information they need to make informed decisions about the quality of service provided by airlines in the country. Overall, July seems rather meh. There were 657,233 flights in July, around 35,000 more than the 623,120 flights recorded in the same month last year (

FAA reported numbers for air traffic are staggering
).

Flight cancelations

In total, July saw 2.9% of flights canceled
(this is higher than the year-to-date cancellation rate of 1.7%). Passengers in the US are entitled to more benefits for canceled flights than in the past – the 10 largest US airlines
now guarantee meals and free rebookings on the same airline if the flight is canceled (nine of the top ten also guarantee hotel accommodation). More information on passenger rights can be found on the DOT’s website.

ATCR graph July 2024

Photo: Department of Transportation

“In July 2024, the 10 marketing network carriers reported 676,807 scheduled domestic flights, 19,574 (2.9%) of which were cancelled. In June 2024, airlines scheduled 651,799 domestic flights, 8,315 (1.3%) of which were cancelled. In July 2023, airlines scheduled 638,995 domestic flights, 15,875 (2.5%) of which were cancelled.” – DOT

Southwest (0.7%), Alaska (0.7%), and Hawaiian (0.8%) saw the fewest cancellations, while Frontier (4.5%), Spirit (5.2%), and Delta (5.6%) saw the most.

“For the second quarter of 2024, the 10 U.S. reporting marketing carriers posted an involuntary denied boarding, or bumping, rate of 0.33 per 10,000 passengers, lower than the rate of 0.36 in the second quarter of 2023 and higher than the rate of 0.20 in the fourth quarter of 2023.”- DOT

Fall in on-time arrival rate

July 2024 also saw a noticeable fall in the on-time arrival rate (68.4%) compared to the previous month (74.3%) and the same time last year (69.3%). The airlines with the highest on-time arrival rates were Hawaiian Airlines (84.1%), Alaska Airlines (76.4%), and Southwest Airlines (70.6%). The worst airlines for on-time arrival were American Airlines (65.7%), Frontier (61.8%), and Spirit (61.1%).

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Photo: Spirit Airlines

75 aircraft sat on tarmac more than 3 hours

Airlines are required not to allow aircraft to be parked on the tarmac for more than 3 hours for domestic flights and 4 hours for international flights without providing passengers with the option of deplaning (subject to exceptions like security). In July 2024, 72 reported tarmac delays exceeding three hours for domestic flights (two more than the previous month). There were also three reported international flight tarmac delays exceeding four hours.

Mishandled baggage and complaints

One frustration most passengers can relate to is mishandled baggage. In July, reporting marketing carriers handled 45.6 million bags and posted a mishandled baggage rate of 0.75% (this is higher than the 0.58% reported the previous month and identical to the same time last year.

Southwest Airlines Baggage Carts at SMF

Photo: Joe Kunzler | Simple Flying

Complaint data not released

The DOT could not release data for July submissions (complaints, inquiries, and opinions) as it takes longer to process those (historically, 91% of submissions are complaints). The DOT is working to modernize its system of handling consumer complaints to speed the process up.

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