Last month’s flights arriving within 14 minutes of schedule (the yardstick used by the U.S. Department of Transportation to calculate on-time performance) averaged 89.22% which easily beat the company’s 86.30% record set eight years ago in October 1994.
Three of the records United broke last month were set in May 2002:
- United’s September departure completion rate of 99.66% compared to May’s 99.56%;
- United’s on-time departure :00 (flights leaving exactly on time) performance of 79.63% was almost four percentage points higher than May’s record of 75.71%;
- And the company’s key early morning departures at 87.89% for September beat May’s record of 85.29%.
Our employees have done a phenomenal job of running the best operation in United’s history, said Pete McDonald, senior vice president-Airport Operations.
When you realize that canceled flights cost the company about $7,000 apiece and each delay minute costs the company about $43, an excellent operation means great service for our customers and cost savings to United as well.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
