Carrier boosts on-time arrivals, PHL baggage delivery

Last year, US Airways not only had lousy on-time performance; its big Philadelphia hub was also legendary for lost bags and late baggage delivery to the carousel. But it looks like the airline, a combination of America West and the ‘old” US Airways, is getting its operational act together. Citing government statistics, US Airways boasted that it ranked first among the 10 largest airlines in on-time performance during the first six months of 2008, with just under 80 percent of its flights arriving within 14 minutes of published schedules. For seven straight months through June, the airline was one of the top three performers in on-time arrivals – evidence of “the remarkable turnaround our airline has achieved over the past year,” said CEO Scott Kirby. Helping the company achieve this is a new incentive plan: It pays each employee $50 for every month US Airways ranks among the top three carriers in on-time performance. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that customer complaints and baggage waiting times at the airline’s PHL hub have been “drastically reduced” due to improvements in the baggage handling process. The newspaper said that for the three months ended June 30, the airline’s rate of mishandled bags at PHL was 19 per 1,000 passengers, down from 39 a year earlier, according to DOT statistics. “The 45- to 60-minute wait at baggage claim…has been cut to 25 minutes or less,” the newspaper said. On the downside, a recent article by Time magazine discussed all the new fees airlines are laying on their passengers, and it rated US Airways as the “stingiest” U.S. airline, thanks in part to its decision to charge for soft drinks, bottled water and even coffee.