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Airline Scheduling: Airlines' On-Time Performance

RCED-90-154 Published: Jun 15, 1990. Publicly Released: Jun 15, 1990.
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Highlights

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO assessed whether: (1) airlines increased scheduled flight time to keep reported delays at a minimum in response to the Department of Transportation's (DOT) on-time performance reporting requirement; and (2) DOT verifies that flights omitted from reported data because of mechanical problems had in fact experienced mechanical problems.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status Sort descending
Department of Transportation The Secretary of Transportation, as part of the effort to increase the usefulness of the on-time data, should assess the feasibility of requiring airlines to report the reasons for non-mechanical cancellations. Airlines currently report flights cancelled for non-mechanical reasons, but would need to include the reasons for such cancellations in their monthly on-time data so that DOT could assess the type and frequency of each reason.
Closed – Implemented
DOT assessed feasibility and does not believe that the suggested new reporting requirement is justified.

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Topics

Air traffic control systemsAir transportationAirlinesAirline regulationAirportsCancellationReporting requirementsTransportation safetyStatistical dataTransportation