Friday, November 4, 2005

Northwest clocks worst on-time record

Carrier blames flight tardiness in September on storms, while analyst cites mechanics' strike.

By Joel J. Smith / The Detroit News

Comment on this story Send this story to a friend Get Home Delivery

Northwest Airlines' on-time performance ranked last among the nation's top 10 carriers in September, the first full month of a mechanics strike against the carrier, according to statistics released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Nearly one of every four Northwest flights, 74.8 percent, arrived 14 minutes late or later -- a steep drop from the airline's 85.4 percent on-time performance during September 2004. The airline industry average was 82.7 percent for the month, led by Frontier Airlines with an on-time arrival rate of 91.8 percent.

If the report included any bright spots for Detroit Metropolitan Airport's top carrier it was that only 1.3 percent of Northwest flights were cancelled in September, a sixth-place finish among the top airlines. The industry average was 2 percent of flights being scratched.

"In September, Northwest made steady improvement in on-time performance and our completion factor was at normal levels," said Kurt Ebenhoch, a Northwest spokesman. "We expect our October on-time performance to exceed 80 percent, and trends for November show continuous improvement."

Northwest's September operation numbers were affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Ebenhoch said. There were some days with severe thunderstorms in the upper Midwest, where Northwest has a high concentration of flights, including those to its Detroit and Minneapolis/St. Paul hubs.

But one analyst puts the blame for Northwest's poor showing on a strike against the airline by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association's 4,430 mechanics and aircraft cleaners. The walkout began Aug. 20 and continues today.

Northwest immediately replaced striking workers, which led to some flight delays. But less than a week into the strike, Northwest said it was flying a normal schedule with acceptable on-time arrivals. The transportation department report suggests that was not the case.

"It has to be the strike," Terry Trippler, an airline analyst with CheapSeats.com in Minneapolis said of Northwest's lackluster September on-time performance. "Northwest does get you where you are going, but it might be a little late.

"I think the worst is behind them. It would make sense that these replacement mechanics should be getting better and becoming faster and faster as time goes on. Northwest can't be happy with these on-time numbers."

When it comes to mishandled bags, Thursday's report shows Northwest placed sixth in the rate of lost or damaged bags in September. The carrier mishandled 3.89 bags per 1,000 passengers, up slightly from a year ago. The industry average was 4.49.

The nation's fourth largest airline also ranked eighth in the number of complaints filed with the transportation department. For the month, Northwest had 52 complaints for an average of 1.19 for every 100,000 passengers that boarded its aircraft. The industry averaged 0.77 complaints overall.

You can reach Joel J. Smith at (313) 222-2556 or jsmith@detnews.com.