One flight into and one out of Bradley International Airport earned a mark of infamy in a recent government report: They’re among the 25 most consistently-late flights in the entire country.
Comair flight 5595, which flies most evenings from JFK Airport in New York to Bradley was late more than 95 percent of the time in July, according to the federal Transportation Bureau. Delays on the flight averaged about 86 minutes.
Chronically Late
Likewise, Delta Airlines flight 887, which flies most evenings from Bradley to Atlanta International arrived late nearly 92 percent of the time, with delays averaging 80 minutes. Delta owns Comair.
The incessant lateness of the two Bradley-connected flights is an extreme example of what has become a disturbing trend for fliers into and out of the region’s major airport: Fewer flights, more delays and more cancellations.
Even Bradley’s much-ballyhooed international connection – Northwest Airlines’ daily non-stop flight to Amsterdam, which debuted on July 1 – has arrived on time only 78 percent of the time, and has been excessively late for 17 percent of its flights, according to FlightStats.com, which tracks airline and airport flight performance.
And while the problems hit hardest at the nation’s largest airports, smaller regional centers like Connecticut’s main airport in Windsor Locks aren’t excluded.
Indeed, comparing the first six months of this year with the same time period in previous years, Bradley appears to have broken many of its own worst records.
In that time frame, 3,442 of the 18,910 flights that left Bradley were delayed, about 18.2 percent. It’s the highest rate of delays — and the fewest number of flights — Bradley saw in the comparable period since at least the year 2000. Cancellation rates for Bradley departures were among the highest since 2002: About 484 flights were cancelled, or 2.56 percent.
In all, on-time departures from Bradley fell below 80 percent for the first time this decade.
Arrivals, however, fared even worse.
The 18,905 scheduled flights into Bradley were the lowest total since the year 2000, and more than 4,900 of those—roughly 26 percent—were delayed. In all, fewer than 72 percent of flights arrived on-time to Bradley — another low-water mark since 2000.
“It’s the domino effect,” said John Wallace, Bradley spokesman. “It’s nothing we can control. It’s residual delays from the major airports, which they have on a daily basis.”
The situation at Bradley mirrors the rest of the nation’s broken air travel system, where flight delays at the nation’s largest airlines rose in July. Experts say the trend reflects rising travel demand, bad weather and the increased use of smaller planes.
The airline industry’s on-time performance in the first seven months of 2007 was its worst since comparable data began being collected in 1995. July’s on-time performance was the eleventh-worst on record. The nation’s 20 largest carriers reported a combined on-time arrival rate of 69.8 percent in July, down from 73.7 percent a year ago, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Through July, more than 25 percent of flights have arrived late.
“When we continue to see these record delays, it disappoints us . . . and certainly lets our customers down, but we’re not surprised by the numbers,” said David Castelveter, a spokesman for the Air Transport Association, whose members include Delta, American, Continental, and other carriers serving Bradley.
Complaints Skyrocket
Air travelers filed more complaints with the government about airline service in July than for any month in the last seven years, the Transportation Department said.
The DOT received more than 1,400 complaints about cancelled flights, lost luggage and other problems—more than double the 679 received in July 2006. It was the highest since August 2000.
Material from the Associated Press and Gannett wire service was included in this report.
