Consumerist: comair

The Ultimate Airline Bankruptcy And Merger Cheat Sheet

Meg Marco — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 08:51:00 EDT

Thinking of taking a trip but can't remember which airlines are bankrupt and which ones are part of Delta? We know it can be difficult—that's why we've put together a little cheat sheet to help you get through this time of uncertainty.

We've listed most of the major airlines and their regional affiliates. We've indicated whether the airlines are now defunct, part of Delta, recently bankrupt, or possibly looking for love with another airline. Regional airlines are marked with their affiliates' logos. Watch out Continental... we think United has her eye on you. Enjoy!

5 Airlines You Shouldn't Trust With Your Luggage

Meg Marco — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 12:59:47 EST

The Department of Transportation's 2007 Air Travel Consumer Report is out. Here are the 5 airlines with the most baggage handling complaints per customer in 2007. Better luck next year!

5. MESA AIRLINES (operates flights for Delta Airlines, United Airlines, USAirways and Midwest Airlines)

4. SKYWEST AIRLINES (operates flights for United Express, Delta Connection and Midwest Connect)

3. ATLANTIC SOUTHEAST AIRLINES (operated by Delta Airlines)

2. COMAIR (operated by Delta Airlines)

1. AMERICAN EAGLE AIRLINES (operated by American Airlines)

Air Travel Consumer Report (PDF) [DOT]
(Photo:Cubbie_N_Vegas)

America's 10 Worst Airlines

Meg Marco — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 11:05:17 EDT

We don't mean to spoil the suspense, but Forbes agrees with us that Atlantic Southeast Airlines (Delta) is the worst airline. They've compiled a list of the 10 worst airlines along with information about on-time percentages and baggage handling miscues. We like it.

Here's the list:

10. Alaska Airlines
On-time performance: 72.8% (eighth worst)
Baggage mishandling: 6.6 per 1,000 passengers (ninth)
Cancellations: 1.2% (15th)

9. Delta Air Lines
On-time performance: 75% (fifth worst)
Baggage mishandling: 6.6 per 1,000 passengers (eighth)
Cancellations: 1.5% (13th)

8. United Airlines
On-time performance: 72.4% (sixth worst)
Baggage mishandling: 5.4 per 1,000 passengers (12th)
Cancellations: 2.1% (seventh) ALT © Tannen Maury/epa/Corbis

7. American Airlines
On-time performance: 69.9% (fifth worst)
Baggage mishandling: 5.8 per 1,000 passengers (11th)
Cancellations: 2.0% (eighth)

6. US Airways
On-time performance: 68.3% (third worst)
Baggage mishandling: 8.6 per 1,000 passengers (seventh)
Cancellations: 1.9% (ninth)

5. Expressjet Airlines
On-time performance: 73% (ninth worst)
Baggage mishandling: 8.9 per 1,000 passengers (fifth)
Cancellation rating: 3.4% (fourth)

4. Mesa Airlines
On-time performance: 72.5% (seventh worst)
Baggage mishandling: 10.1 per 1,000 passengers (fourth)
Cancellations: 2.7% (sixth)

3. American Eagle Airlines (a division of American Airlines)
On-time performance: 69% (fourth worst)
Baggage mishandling: 13.5 per 1,000 passengers (second)
Cancellations: 4.4% (third)

2. Comair (a division of Delta Air Lines)
On-time performance: 66.6% (second worst)
Baggage mishandling: 11.9 per 1,000 passengers (third)
Cancellations: 5.4% (worst)

1. Atlantic Southeast Airlines
On-time performance: 63.3% (worst)
Baggage mishandling: 16.9 per 1,000 passengers (worst)
Cancellations: 4.4% (second worst)

America's Worst Airlines [Forbes]
(Photo:Keenan Pepper)

Delta Partner "Atlantic Southeast Airlines" On-Time Only 54.2% Of The Time

Meg Marco — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 10:41:51 EDT

US Airways managed to hold on to something as the floor dropped out of a few other airlines' on-time percentages... so let us introduce our new punching bag: Atlantic Southeast Airlines!

Atlantic Southeast is part of Delta and operates regional flights with ATL as its hub. And it's not on time that often.

During the month of July ASA was dead last with only 54.2% of flights arriving on-time. Other airlines hanging around the bottom of the list were: Comair with 62.4%, American Airlines with 63.4%, and American Eagle with 65.1%.

July was the second month of trouble for ASA. As recently as May, ASA's on-time percentage was near the middle of the pack at 78.8%. We'd love to blame the whole thing on the drunk stewardess, but we're thinking there might be deeper problems going on here.

The news only gets worse: Not only do you not want to fly with this airline if you value arriving on time, you can't trust them with your suitcases either. ASA lead the pack in mishandled baggage reports with 15.45 mishandled bags for every 1,000 passengers.

ASA is also near the top of the list for most complaints per passenger served... but the top honor of "most complained about" still belongs to good old US Airways. Some things never change.

Air Travel Consumer Report [DOT]
(Photo:Franco Folini)

The 10 Worst Flights: Avoid These Regularly Scheduled Travel Nightmares

Meg Marco — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 10:57:21 EDT

According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the following flights are the 10 worst flights in existence. They're regularly scheduled and they are late 92-100% of the time. Avoid them like you avoid drug-resistant TB.

Now, on to the flights!

US Airways Flight 1543
From:BOS-CLT
Departs: 6:35 pm
Percentage late: 100.00%
Average Minutes Delayed: 53

Comair Flight 5463
From JFK-BUF
Departs 6:52 pm
Percentage late: 96.67%
Average Minutes Delayed: 75

SkyWest Flight 2570
From: CMH-MKE
Departs: 8:55 pm
Percentage late: 96.15%
Average Minutes Delayed: 42

US Airways Flight 1582
From: CLT-EWR
Departs: 3:45 pm
Percentage late: 95.83%
Average Minutes Delayed: 67

Comair Flight 5625
From JFK-JAX
Departs 5:35 pm
Percentage late: 93.75%
Average Minutes Delayed: 79

US Airways Flight 656
From: DCA-PHX
Departs: 4:39 pm
Percentage late: 93.75%
Average Minutes Delayed: 71

US Airways Flight 619
From: ATL-LAS
Departs: 9:47 pm
Percentage late: 93.75%
Average Minutes Delayed: 42

JetBlue Flight 1606
From: JFK-PWM
Departs: 5:40 pm
Percentage late: 93.33%
Average Minutes Delayed: 60

American Airlines Flight 1639
From: JFK-SJU
Departs: 7:05 pm
Percentage late: 93.33%
Average Minutes Delayed: 54

Comair Flight 4997
From: ORF-JFK
Departs: 7:00 pm
Percentage late: 92.86
Average Minutes Delayed: 95

There you have it folks, the 10 worst regularly scheduled flights in existence as of April 2007.

In other news, only 63% of all US Airways flights were on time in April, so if you're looking for a handy cheat-sheet to avoiding late flights: Avoid US Airways. —MEGHANN MARCO

Air Travel Consumer Reports [Bureau of Transportation Statistics]
(Photo: Drewski2112)