For the 10th consecutive month, Hawaiian
Airlines ranked as the nation’s most punctual airline in August with an
incredible 95.5 percent of its flights arriving on time (see chart below),
according to the Air Travel Consumer Report issued today by the U.S.
Department of Transportation (DOT).In addition, Hawaiian finished #1 among airlines nationwide for its
handling of customers’ luggage, and for recording the fewest number of flight
cancellations. Hawaii’s biggest and longest-serving airline also ranked highly
with the fewest number of consumer complaints.
  “No airline in America had a better August than Hawaiian Airlines and it
capped off an amazing summer of top-rated service for our customers,” said
Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian’s president and chief operating officer.  “Despite
the seasonal demands of increased travel, our operational excellence soared to
unprecedented heights with 96 percent on-time arrivals for the summer.  We
were also the first airline to introduce two new customer innovations with the
digEplayer laptop personal entertainment system, and the BaggageDirect mobile
skycap service.”
  The digEplayer is the world’s first self-contained, portable, inflight
entertainment system, offering transpacific passengers a selection of
10-15 first-run, full-length movies; 8-10 short subjects or situation
comedies; 20 music videos; and 100 audio tracks.
  BaggageDirect is an exclusive, TSA-certified service providing complete
passenger and baggage check-in from home, office, or hotel including delivery
of boarding passes and baggage claim receipts. Customers avoid the airport
check-in process altogether and go straight to the gate.
  Hawaiian proved to be at its best during its busiest time of year—the
three-month peak summer travel season.  Hawaiian averaged an astounding
95.9 percent record of punctuality over the course of summer, with August’s
95.5 percent of on-time arrivals following previous marks of 95.3 percent in
June and 97.0 percent in July.
  It also marked the three best months of on-time service that any airline
has ever recorded.
  Hawaiian raised its year-to-date on-time service record to 93.3 percent,
an eight-month average that exceeds any single month recorded by any other
carrier in 2004.  On-time service, according to DOT standards, requires a
flight to arrive within 15 minutes of schedule.
  Following Hawaiian, the top five airlines for on-time service in August
were SkyWest Airlines, 86.2 percent; Continental Airlines, 81.3 percent;
Northwest Airlines, 81.2 percent; and ATA Airlines, 80.7 percent.  The
industry average for all reporting airlines was 78.3 percent—
17.2 percentage points behind Hawaiian.

  Nation’s #1 in Baggage Handling; #1 in Fewest Flight Cancellations
  Hawaiian’s industry-best punctuality was just one facet to its customer
service record for August, as the company also ranked at the top in the other
categories reported by DOT for mishandled baggage reports, flight
cancellations, and consumer complaints.
  For the second straight month, Hawaiian topped all carriers nationally
with its handling of customers’ luggage, recording only 2.41 mishandled
baggage reports per 1,000 passengers served.
  The company also had the nation’s best record in terms of fewest flight
cancellations. Out of Hawaiian’s 4,469 flights in August, only
0.4 percent—or 19 flights total—were cancelled, topping all other
carriers.
  Hawaiian ranked as the industry’s fifth-best airline in terms of consumer
complaints, with the DOT receiving only two complaints—the fewest of any
airline—out of the 512,770 passengers served in August, representing just
0.39 complaints for every 100,000 passengers.
  Dunkerley noted, “No airline anywhere is doing a better job at serving its
passengers.”
  The DOT’s Air Travel Consumer Report for August is available online at
http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/reports/atcr04.htm.
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