American Airlines on-time rating falls

A labour dispute has had a significant effect on American Airlines’ punctuality, new figures have shown.

Travel Insurance News - 15/11/2012

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A labour dispute has had a significant effect on American Airlines’ punctuality, new figures have shown.

Reports said last week that the carrier’s overall on-time rating fell to just 58 per cent in September – the worst in the United States – with experts citing pilot protests that had forced the airline to cancel and reschedule hundreds of flights through the autumn.

The figure from the U.S. Department of Transportation comes in contrast to the 83 per cent overall performance rating for all US-based airlines during the same month, which marked an improvement of 4 per cent from the same period one year prior.

Meanwhile, American announced early this week that it had finally reached a tentative deal with pilots following the prolonged row amid its post-bankruptcy cost-cutting efforts. The carrier, which employs around 7,500 pilots, had won a court battle with US federal authorities that allowed it to cancel its previous labour agreements in the wake of filing for Chapter 11 protection in November last year.

The news comes after the pilots’ union turned down a revised contract earlier in the year; the deal would have saved the carrier some $300 million (£189 million) annually. If approved, the new contracts would likely enable the airline to finally emerge from bankruptcy, according to reports.

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