Delta Air Lines Inc. had the best arrival performance, 77.5 percent, at the airport in February. Southwest Airlines Co., the second-largest carrier here, got 64.7 percent of its flights to the airport on time, or no more than 15 minutes late, during the month.
Philadelphia International's record for the month improved compared with February 2007, when 62.7 percent of flights arrived on time, according to other data released by the department's Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
This year's results left the airport in 27th place among the nation's 32 largest airports. As is often the case, the worst records were at Chicago O'Hare, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty airports.
Departing flights pushed back from gates at Philadelphia within 15 minutes of their schedules 70.7 percent of the time in February, compared with 64.5 percent of the time a year ago.
Across its whole network, US Airways compiled the third-best on-time arrival record among major carriers, 76.3 percent. Delta had the best record at 77.2 percent, followed by Alaska Airlines at 76.7 percent.
In customer service, US Airways continued to rank near the bottom, but showed improvement from 2007.
Seven out of every 1,000 US Airways customers filed reports of lost or damaged bags during the month, compared with 9.4 reports filed a year earlier. The airline finished last among the 20 largest airlines for complaints filed with the Transportation Department, both this February and a year ago. The rate was 2.28 complaints per 100,000 customers this year and 2.09 per 100,000 in 2007.
Contact staff writer Tom Belden at 215-854-2454 or tbelden@phillynews.com.
PHL February On-Time Arrivals
Flights arriving at Philadelphia International Airport within 15 minutes of scheduled time
Delta 77.5%
USAirways 71.4
Southwest 64.7
- Feb. '07 Feb. '08
PHL all arrivals 62.7 65.8
PHL all departures 64.5 70.7
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation
