Taking a short break from my .cab / setup.dll adventures tonight, I thought I would check out the on-time stats for Comair out of Newark (given that I'm [unjustly?] bitter about last week*):
I went here: http://www.transtats.bts.gov/OT_Delay/OT_DelayCause1.asp (For my query, I selected "Comair - OH" as the carrier and "Newark: Liberty International - EWR" as the airport.)
56.45%** on-time. Hmmmm. I've been traveling to Newark nearly every week for several months (if I wasn't going to EWR, I was going to DCA), and I have had only one flight home leave on time. Either the flight was delayed departing due to weather (can't really complain about that, eh?) [listed as 12.66%] or the aircraft arrived late [listed as 0.51%].
Additional research for Comair at Cincinnati (CVG) (where the plane leaving from EWR originated) shows even higher on-time numbers. Now, doing some rough math in my head, the number of flights home that I have taken comprises a very small percentage of Comair's total service to EWR. Taking the aforementioned on-time percentages as percentages of my flight percentage evens things out a bit and isn't so bad. My Monday morning flights, in contrast (Delta, leaving CVG at 0700), have always left on time and get in on-time or (usually) a bit early. At any rate, I'm somewhat used to flights on the East Coast being a roll of the dice at this point. Hmm, I ought to write an app for my Smartphone to... nah.
Now, after all that hot air, I was certainly grateful on Monday when I had to book a flight back home that night due to a personal matter and my flight left on time (the only one to date) - at least they came through when it counted. Taking a few more steps back, it's amazing that things work as well as they do given the proclivity of airports like EWR, ORD and ATL to bollocks up the whole system.
Oh, here's a handy resource for your [major US] airport status
-Nino
*My Friday flight home (8:00 pm) was cancelled (mechanical problems) and I had to spend the night in Newark - of course, they didn't cancel it until *after* a flight to CVG via ATL had already left - it was merely delayed at that point. Murphy's Law strikes again. ;-)
** All percentages listed here are July 2004 numbers