The US Department of Transportation recently released its November report on the US airline industry, including flight delays, baggage issues, and consumer complaints. For our regional perspective, we looked only at airlines that fly to Hawaii, based on the national data provided. Reporting is from September 2018, in terms of flight delays, and both September and year-to-date on other criteria.
Our take. Hawaiian scores high in on-time arrival because their inter-island flights are included in the report. They also generally fly to/from airports with few weather issues. Delta Airlines really stands out across multiple categories.
Tip. Keep in mind that while the report does not rate airlines on how fast they get baggage to you, both Alaska Airlines and Delta Airlines both have a 20 minute guarantee. If it’s longer than 20 minutes, Delta will give you 2,500 bonus miles and Alaska will offer the same or a $25 discount code on a future flight. Our experience with Alaska is that you have to take the lead and initiate the claim, they do not stand there handing out bonus miles. Unfortunately, we forgot to collect on Delta, when our luggage last went missing.
1. On-Time Arrivals/flight delays. The range here is quite vast, and the reasons varied. Based on September traffic, if you’re flying on American, there is a 22% chance of a delay. That in contrast with if you are flying on Hawaiian, there is only a 9% chance of a delay.
Hawaiian Airlines (ranked best)
Delta Airlines
Southwest Airlines
Alaska Airlines
United Airlines
American Airlines
2. Mishandled Baggage. These reports were somewhat surprising.
September 2018. The range was from 1.39 reports per 1,000 passengers at Delta Airlines to nearly triple or 3.58 at American Airlines.
Delta (ranked best)
United Airlines
Alaska Airlines
Southwest Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines
American Airlines
January through September 2018. The range for year to date was from 1.86 reports per 1,000 passengers at Delta Airlines to over double, or 3.86 at American Airlines.
Delta (ranked best)
United Airlines
Alaska Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines
Southwest Airlines
American Airlines
3. Consumer Complaints. A wide range of complaints were noted based, with results based on the percentage of people flying. In September, Southwest had 0.32% complaints. At the other end, American had 1.68%, over over 5 times more complaints.
September 2018.
Southwest (ranked best)
Delta Airlines
Alaska Airlines
United Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines
American Airlines
January through September 2018.
Southwest Airlines (ranked best)
Alaska Airlines
Delta Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines
United Airlines
American Airlines
Congrats, you made it to the end of the list! Now that you’ve come this far, let us know if the USDOT report impacts the airline you choose when flying to Hawaii.
Aloha and Mahalo for all of the work you do! I live on Big Island and flew Hawaiian Airlines to Sacramento Thanksgiving weekend (left Thursday and returned Tuesday) traveling in both directions there were long delays. Spent Thanksgiving in HNL airport, 3.5 hour delay as the plane coming from San Jose was majorly delayed, no reasons given. Tuesday left Sac. at 7:00 AM and almost 2 hours into the flight the pilot announced turning around due to a medical emergency and we flew back to SFO. To my surprise the medical emergency person walked unaided off of the plane. We sat on the tarmac for over an hour to refuel which happened right away and the crew announced the delay was due to waiting on catering. They had served us no food or drink because the crew was working with the medical emergency. I thought they might give us lunch since they said they were waiting on catering but we got the original breakfast meal. The crew announced several times how grateful they were to the medical helpers on board but never once announced what we needed to do to deal with our missed connecting flights and I was needing to get home as soon as possible to be with a beloved cat who was in the process of passing 🙁 Even after we landed no info on what to do with missed connecting flights. I’ve been flying Hawaiian for over 15 years and both of these flights were handled poorly, no information to keep us apprised of what we needed to do, not impressed at all! I’m curious what your seasoned travel experience take is of the medical emergency issue where the man walked unaided off of the plane.
Hi Jen.
Have you contacted Hawaiian Airlines customer relations regarding this since you returned? We’d suggest doing that for sure. Let us know how it goes.
Aloha.
Appreciate all your hard work. Made for an interesting read.
These findings will not impact our next trip in early 2019 – since we used miles and ‘on time flights’ and ‘wait times for luggage’ were not factors in our choice this trip.
Since we rarely check a bag – we don’t have to worry too much about lost luggage. We did check a bag on our last SWA flight and Hawaiian flight with no problems at all. But we prefer less hassle and since we usually stay in a condo with washer/dryer – we don’t have to take so many items.
I think I will think twice before buying an AA ticket now after reading this!