While airlines and airports jointly hoped for a strong start to 2024, the industry suffered from numerous flight disruptions comprised of lengthy delays and, of course, cancelations. While a good chunk of the impacts can be attributed to the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX 9, winter weather also affected flights.
Seattle-based Alaska Airlines unquestionably suffered from the most cancelations so far this month, while JetBlue Airways had the least. Out of six major US airlines, the total cancelation rate averaged over 4.30% – a jump from the industry low recorded during the busy holiday travel season weeks prior.
American Airlines, Alaska, JetBlue, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and Southwest Airlines all recorded cancelation rates above 1% between January 1st and 21st, according to aviation data and analytics provider OAG. Behind JetBlue, Delta came in second in terms of the least amount of canceled flights. After January 5th, Alaska and United’s rates jumped significantly, but the former was the only carrier to have cancelations soar above 10%.
|
US Airline Cancelation Rates (January 1-21st) |
|
|---|---|
|
Airline |
Rate |
|
JetBlue Airways |
1.84% |
|
2.21% |
|
|
3.32% |
|
|
Southwest Airlines |
3.80% |
|
7.02% |
|
|
Alaska Airlines |
12.27% |
Alaska seemed to have suffered the most as nearly 25% of its fleet are MAX 9 aircraft, according to OAG. As the January 5th incident led to the grounding of 171 planes for mandatory maintenance checks, the carrier’s CEO expressed frustration and demanded Boeing improve its planemaking quality.
Photo: Joe Kunzler | Simple Flying
With more than 12% of all flights canceled over a span of 20 days this month, Alaska experienced even more complications on January 17th and 18th, with cancelation rates increasing above 20% due to severe weather. With the FAA issuing clearance for the grounded MAX 9s to return to service following inspections, Alaska operated its first flight with the variant on Friday after three weeks.
The first MAX 9 flight in three weeks took off from Seattle on Friday.
United, which also operates a number of MAX 9s, had its operations affected by the grounding, contributing to the second-highest cancelation rate. The airline also resumed flights with the plane type on Saturday.
In a statement obtained by CBS News, United’s CEO, Scott Kirby, commented on the plane returning to service.
“It’s good to see our 737 Max 9s flying again following rigorous inspections by United technicians after weeks of close coordination with the FAA. As we always do, we’ll continue to work closely with Boeing and the FAA to make sure our entire fleet is reliable and, above all, safe. With that in mind, we are sending inspectors to the Boeing facility in Renton, Washington to provide input on Boeing’s processes.”
While aircraft’s complications did not affect the Chicago-based airline as much as Alaska, the carrier has indicated that it is reevaluating its order for the larger 737 MAX 10. Behind each cancelation is lost revenue for an airline, according to OAG. Both Alaska and United’s revenue figures have likely decreased from their projected numbers for the month due to the MAX 9 issues.
JetBlue’s cancelation rate is some good news for the airline following its shuttered plans to acquire Spirit Airlines. It is worth noting that the carrier’s rate surpassed Atlanta-based Delta, which typically has the lowest and has been the most punctual in the US for the last two years.
Photo: Bradley Caslin | Shutterstock
The total cancelation rate from January 1st to 21st averaged 4.36%, according to OAG. The number is far more than the rate recorded during the Christmas and New Year holiday travel season – December 17 to January 1st – which was remarkably 0.8%, according to the US Department of Transportation. January’s cancelation rate, however, was far below 2022’s holiday travel period, where an 8.2% rate was recorded during the same period.
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