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Tampa Airport Flights Timely

Posted on: Thursday, 8 June 2006, 00:00 CDT

By Ted Jackovics, Tampa Tribune, Fla.

Jun. 7--TAMPA -- Aviation experts predict a record number of flight delays this summer, but you might not want to show up late for a flight at Tampa International Airport.

The reason: The airport again got top rankings for on-time flight departures and arrivals, and more of the same is expected this month.

Tampa ranked fourth best nationwide for departures and eighth best for arrivals in April, a federal report released Monday shows.

In April, 83.1 percent of flights into Tampa arrived within 15 minutes of schedule (the U.S. Department of Transportation's definition of on time), compared with 82.1 percent in April 2005.

As for departures, 86.4 percent of flights took off on time, compared with 85.9 percent a year ago, the DOT report shows.

Of the busiest carriers at TIA, Delta Air Lines, US Airways and Southwest ranked as the top three for on-time arrival performance.

Tampa's figures buck the national trend of declining on-time performance attributed to bigger passenger loads and longer boarding times as airlines reduced flights to cut costs.

Arrival times depend primarily on weather and when a flight leaves its origination point, airport director Louis Miller said.

"If a plane leaves Atlanta two hours late, just for example, it will arrive in Tampa late," he said. "On-time departures at Tampa are always better than arrivals, meaning planes that arrive a little late turn around here quickly."

Miller expects Tampa will maintain its record of timely arrivals and departures through June, but July and August's typical thunderstorms can create problems.

If April's measures among the nation's 31 major airports serve as an indication, airports in Newark, N.J., Chicago and Philadelphia will be among those with delay problems this summer.

Newark Liberty International Airport posted April's worst percentage of on-time arrivals at 65.8 percent, and Chicago's O'Hare International and Midway airports reported the most frequent departure delays, with 73.4 percent and 71.8 percent leaving on time, respectively.

RECENT ARRIVALS

All on-time arrival percentages are for April at Tampa International Airport.

Delta Air Lines: 85 percent on time

US Airways: 84.7 percent on time

Southwest: 84.2 percent on time

American: 81.8 percent on time

Continental: 76 percent on time

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation

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Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Tampa Tribune

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