US Airways’ on-time performance drops

July storms and too many late flights quashed US Airways employees’ chance for another $50 bonus this month.

US Airways planes 86% full

For seven consecutive months, the Tempe-based airline has been paying employees for landing planes on time more often than most major U.S. carriers. A top-three performance nets a $50 bonus.

In July, the most recent month tabulated by the Department of Transportation, US Airways landed 78.3 percent of its flights on time, making it the fourth timeliest among the majors, eighth among all 19 carriers monitored by the government. West Coast rival Southwest Airlines was tops among the majors with an 83.1 percent on-time arrival record.

“July was a very challenging month for the operation, with summer storms hampering much of our system,” US Airways chief operating officer Robert Isom said in the employee newsletter.

That wasn’t the only midsummer slip for the hometown carrier, according to DOT’s monthly consumer-focused airline performance report released Wednesday.

US Airways, which regularly swaps last and next-to-last place with United Airlines in overall consumer compliant rankings, landed at the bottom for July with 2.16 complaints lodged with the government for every 100,000 passengers. US Airways earned only 1.76 gripes per 100,000 in June, giving it an 18th out of 19 finish.

In July, Frontier Airlines was tops with fliers, picking up fewer than 0.1 complaints per 100,000 passengers. Best among the big carriers, Southwest Airlines snagged fewer than 0.2 complaints per 100,000.

Isom said at least passengers liked US Airways better in July than a year earlier. In July 2007, 4.97 of 100,000 people complained about the airline.

“This is a 57 percent improvement,” he told employees.

There was another bright spot in the latest report. US Airways has steadily improved its baggage handling, bobbling only 4.22 pieces per 1,000 passengers in July. That’s compared with nearly 10 mishandled bags per 1,000 a year ago.

The airline is now eighth best among 19 airlines in baggage handling. Things are looking up for employee bonuses in the future, according to Isom.

During Labor Day weekend, US Airways landed at least 90 percent of its planes on time. And the holiday itself “was the best (at 91.5 percent) since the (US Airways-America West) merger and the highest Labor Day load factor (at 80.8 percent of all seats full) in company history,” Isom said.