Despite assurances from the FAA, George Bush, and individual airlines that travel will improve, airlines’ on-time records (and reputations) are getting worse. A report from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics marks 24th consecutive month in which on-time performance deteriorated from a year earlier. In August, 159 flights sat on the runway for at least three hours, and the longest wait was six hours.
Long waits and late arrivals are not the only grievances from customers; in August alone there were 1359 complaints about service — more than two times the amount there were in August 2006.
Mishandled bags have also been a growing problem — over one million bags were lost in June and July in the U.S. alone!