HONOLULU –- The U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) today issued its monthly Air Travel Consumer Report for June showing that Hawaiian Airlines had the nation's best airline performance for on-time service and baggage handling.
Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian's president and CEO, commented, “Staying on schedule and taking care of luggage are two of travelers' biggest concerns and no airline is doing a better job of meeting those needs than Hawaiian Airlines. June was a busy month, so I'm especially proud of the way our employees keep rising to the challenge and maintaining Hawaiian's industry-leading customer service – there's no better team in the business.”
For the 20th consecutive month, Hawaiian led all carriers nationwide in punctuality with 94.1 percent of its flights arriving on time in June. Hawaii's biggest and longest-serving airline finished 11.0 percentage points above runner-up SkyWest Airlines and 18.9 percentage points above the industry average of 75.2 percent. (To meet DOT standards, a flight must arrive within 15 minutes of schedule to be considered on time.)
Hawaiian also finished June as America's best airline at handling customers' luggage, averaging 3.20 mishandled baggage reports for every 1,000 passengers. Year-to-date, Hawaiian has been even better, averaging only 2.90 mishandled baggage reports per 1,000 passengers to lead all carriers.
Hawaiian scored high in other customer service categories measured by DOT in June, finishing second overall for lowest percentage of flights cancelled at 0.2 percent. Altogether, Hawaiian had only eight cancellations out of 4,137 total flights during the month.
In addition, Hawaiian had the industry's third-best record for lowest percentage of oversales for both second quarter and year-to-date. Hawaiian recorded only nine involuntary denied boardings out of 1.4 million passengers in the second quarter (0.06 per 10,000 passengers), and only 14 involuntary denied boardings out of 2.8 million customers served through the first six months (0.05 per 10,000 passengers).
Even though DOT received only four complaints about Hawaiian compared to the more than 500,000 passengers served in June, the airline ranked 12th overall in the consumer complaints category. Year-to-date, Hawaiian's ranking improved to sixth overall, with only 19 complaints received out of 2.8 million passengers carried during the first six months.
The DOT report covers 20 airlines, including seven carriers providing service to Hawaii. The full report is available online at http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/reports/atcr05.htm.
About Hawaiian Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines, the nation's number one on-time carrier, is recognized as one of the best airlines in America. Readers of two prominent national travel magazines, Condé Nast Traveler and Travel + Leisure, have both rated Hawaiian as the top domestic airline serving Hawaii in their most recent rankings.
Celebrating its 76th year of continuous service, Hawaiian is Hawaii's biggest and longest-serving airline, and the second largest provider of passenger air service between Hawaii and the U.S. mainland. Hawaiian offers nonstop service to Hawaii from more U.S. gateway cities than any other airline. Hawaiian also provides approximately 100 daily jet flights among the Hawaiian Islands, as well as service to Australia, American Samoa and Tahiti.
Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. is a subsidiary of Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (AMEX and PCX: HA). Additional information is available online at HawaiianAirlines.com.
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