Late Departure From MidAmerica? You’re Not Alone. How Often St. Louis Airports Run on Time

Sep. 13—The federal Office of Aviation Consumer Protection released its latest Air Travel Consumer Report and said 52.4% of departures from MidAmerica St. Louis Airport (BLV) in Mascoutah ran on time in June. The report counted a flight as "on-time" if it operated within 15 minutes of its scheduled time.

The Air Travel Consumer Report said 71.9% of arrivals to BLV were on time, while 52.4% of the facility's departures ran on schedule. BLV reported 146 arrivals and 147 departures for the month.

St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL) had a similar on-time arrival rate at 71.7%, and 69.3% of its departures left on time. STL reported 5,083 arrivals and 5,081 departures in June.

BLV's primary airline is Allegiant Air, which the Air Travel Consumer Report ranked last out of 10 airlines for the number of on-time arrivals from January to June of this year.

Here's the ranking:

1. Hawaiian Airlines (82.14% of arrivals were on-time, with 35,458 operations scheduled)

2. Delta Air Lines Network (80.75% of arrivals were on-time, with 721,541 operations scheduled)

3. Airlines Network (78.91% of arrivals were on-time, with 188,063 operations scheduled)

4. United Airlines Network (76.92% of arrivals were on-time, with 632,745 operations scheduled)

5. American Airlines Network (76.75% of arrivals were on-time, with 889,445 operations scheduled)

6. Southwest Airlines (73.87% of arrivals were on-time, with 614,081 operations scheduled)

7. Spirit Airlines (69.31% of arrivals were on-time, with 109,816 operations scheduled)

8. Frontier Airlines (64.5% of arrivals were on-time, with 73,382 operations scheduled)

9. JetBlue Airways (62.08% of arrivals were on-time, with 133,926 operations scheduled)

10. Allegiant Air (61.63% of arrivals were on-time, with 61,071 operations scheduled)

The networks include branded codeshare partners.

While the Air Travel Consumer Report rated Allegiant low for on-time arrivals, the airline performed the best out of the 10 major carriers for the rate of bags mishandled. Here's the baggage handling ranking, from the lowest portion of bags mishandled to the highest:

1. Allegiant Air (0.16 bags mishandled per 100 enplaned)

2. Hawaiian Airlines (0.31)

3. Frontier Airlines (0.36)

4. Southwest Airlines (0.45)

5. Spirit Airlines (0.48)

6. Delta Air Lines Network (0.61)

7. United Airlines Network (0.66)

8. JetBlue Airways (0.7)

9. Alaska Airlines Network (0.72)

10. American Airlines Network (0.87)

At the St. Clair County Public Building Commission's Aug. 18 meeting, BLV Airport Director Bryan Johnson said the air travel industry has experienced "significant workforce challenges."

"I mean every level, every service aspect of putting an airplane into the air, there's shortages," Johnson said. "You may have seen where some air carriers have pulled out of markets or reduced their schedules. ... Maybe some of you have experienced either delays or cancellations. So these airlines are pulling back a little bit nationally on all capacity."

Capacity issues sometimes follow reduced schedules.

"Every plane's full, and they just can't get enough planes in the air," Johnson said.

Ways to avoid travel delays at airports

Travel company AAA offers tips to travelers on how to avoid flight delays. Best practices include booking flights departing earlier in the day, giving yourself ample time (at least an hour) to make connections and planning to arrive to your destination earlier than necessary in case you are delayed.

Airports tend to be less busy on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, AAA says, so it may help to book travel on those days if it works with your schedule.

Lexi Cortes contributed reporting to this story.

This story was originally published September 13, 2022 10:50 AM.

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