(Seven airlines-six of them regional-remain exempt.) The change to a 0.5 percent revenue threshold will cover 99.68 percent of flight performance data for scheduled domestic service, the government said. This will cover six regio nal airlines that fly for the legacy carriers and Allegiant Travel Co., the Las Vegas-ba sed ultra-low-cost carrier. The new mandate for a fuller picture of on-time performance encompasses carriers with at least 0.5 percent of domestic passenger revenue, instead of the prior 1 percent. “Regio nal airlines remain committed to delivering safe and high-quality air service to our customers–both our airline partners and our passengers-and caution against regulations imposing increased costs without a recognized public benefit,” said Faye Black, the president of the Regio nal Airline Association, which represents 24 regio nal carriers. Unsurprisingly, not everyone is happy with this move toward greater transparency. The change also would more closely correlate the Big Three’s domestic on-time performance metrics with Southwest Airlines Co., JetBlue Airways Corp., and Virgin America Inc., which do nearly all their own flying. 18 as it issued a final rule on the issue. Mo nthly on-time rankings “have a significant impact on a carrier’s image and brand identity, which in turn has a potential effect on the decision making of many co nsumers when deciding to purchase air transportation,” the DOT said Oct. Regulators are aiming to make mo nthly performance at the major carriers reflect how well their regio nal operations did. Department of Transportation is closing that gaping hole by requiring performance information on flights operated by a half dozen regio nal airlines. domestic air routes-and when bad weather strikes, those flights are often the first to be canceled. Regio nal flying now co nstitutes almost half of U.S. Yet this crowing comes with a big caveat: Most of the mo nthly stats the large carriers report don’t include their regio nal operations, mostly smaller, 50-to-90-seat jets that funnel travelers to and from hubs.
airlines have touted their operatio nal improvements to curb delays and make flight schedules more reliable.