Increase the traffic, increase the bumps

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported that 2006 international passenger traffic for the first half of the year grew 6.7%, and passenger load factor reached 75.1%, 1.2 percentage points higher than during the same period last year.

For the month of June, "passenger traffic continued the pattern of strong and stable growth seen over the past 18 months with a 6.5% expansion over June 2005. With only a 4.4% expansion in capacity, the passenger load factor reached 78.3%, over 1.5 percentage points over June 2005."

At the same time, the U.S. Dept. of Transportation (DOT) noted that the nation's largest airlines "recorded a lower rate of on-time flights and a higher rate of cancellations this past June than in both the previous month and June of last year."

Also reported was an increase in the number of passengers who were involuntarily bumped from flights.

Some 16,320 passengers were refused boarding against their will on US flights between April and June, a 41 percent increase over the same period in 2005, the DOT said.

...

In all, the DOT said 185,368 passengers were bumped during the last quarter, with most -- 169,045 -- voluntarily giving up their seats in return for compensation. Last year during the same period, 164,670 passengers were bumped.

Of the major airlines in the U.S., Continental and Delta had the highest number of people bumped involuntarily per 10,000 passengers.

Sounds to us like a lot of headaches for customer service reps at the airports!

Sources:
Strong Traffic Demand in First Half of 2006 - The Bottom Line is All About Oil - IATA News
Airlines On-Time Performance Slips in June - U.S. Dept of Transportation
More travelers getting bumped off US airlines - Breitbart.com

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