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Sea-Tac’s Alaska Airlines was the most punctual airline in the U.S. in February

By John Gillie - Staff writer

April 09, 2015 03:23 PM

Alaska Airlines continued its winning ways this week with a new report from the federal Department of Transportation naming the Sea-Tac-based carrier tops in on-time performance in February.

The airline also registered the fewest customer complaints, just eight, filed with the DOT that same month.

Alaska has consistently been the most punctual of U.S. airlines during the past several years.

The federal report said 85.1 percent of Alaska’s flights arrived on time in February. That compares with the average of all domestic airlines of 72.8 percent on-time arrivals. An on-time arrival, according to the federal government, is one that arrives within 15 minutes of its scheduled time.

The lowest result for on-time arrivals among mainline carriers was Denver’s Frontier Airlines, whose flights arrive 58.8 percent on time in February.

Second among U.S. carriers in on-time performance was Hawaiian Airlines with 82.2 percent of its flights operating on schedule. Delta was in third place with a 78 percent on-time performance.

Just 0.14 passengers per 100,000 filed complaints with the federal agency about the Sea-Tac-based carrier. Frontier Airlines again was the worst in that category with 3.5 passengers per 100,000 filing complaints with the DOT.

The federal agency said the longest on-tarmac delay in February was experienced by passengers on a U.S. Airways flight bound from Philadelphia to Salt Lake City. Passengers on that flight waited on the taxiway for four hours and 31 minutes Feb. 2 before taking off for the Utah capital.

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