U.S. airline delays top 1 million so far in 2007

By John Crawley

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. airline delays for 2007 surpassed the 1 million mark in July, the same month major carriers scheduled a record number of flights - 647,600, the government reported on Tuesday.

The on-time arrival rate of 69.8 percent for July was one of the worst monthly performances since the U.S. Transportation Department started keeping records in 1995, and kept the 20 biggest airlines on track for their worst-ever year for delays, cancellations and congestion.

More than 13,400 flights were canceled and 2,100 flights diverted in July, mainly due to bad weather.

Among major carriers, Southwest Airlines had the highest on-time arrival rate at 75.2 percent. United Airlines, a unit of UAL Corp. and Northwest Airlines reported a 70.1 percent on-time rate.

JetBlue Airways Corp. and Delta Air Lines, both of which have big operations at delay-plagued John F. Kennedy airport in New York, reported on-time arrival rates of 66.8 percent and 65.3 percent respectively. American Airlines was last among the big carriers at 63.4 percent.

The 1,717 consumer complaints filed in July with federal transportation authorities was more than double the number reported in the same month last year, an indicator that customer service remains a problem for many airlines.

Although the number is relatively low compared to the tens of millions of passengers who fly each month, aviation experts say most people never file a formal complaint with their carrier or the government.

Kevin Mitchell, president of the Business Travel Coalition, which represents corporate travel managers, believes things will only get worse as U.S. airlines get closer to carrying 1 billion passengers a year by the middle of next decade.