Air Travel Consumer Report: January 2019 Numbers

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.   DOT 18-19 Friday, March 29, 2019 Contact:  pressoffice@dot.gov   Air Travel Consumer Report: January 2019 Numbers   WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) today released its March 2019 Air Travel Consumer Report (ATCR) on marketing and reporting air carrier data compiled for the month of January 2019.  The full consumer report and other aviation consumer matters of interest to the public can be found at http://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer.   Complaints About Airline Service In January 2019, DOT received 878 complaints about airline service from consumers, down 39.5 percent from the total of 1,452 filed in January 2018 and down 12.3 percent from the 1,001 received in December 2018.    January On-Time Performance  In January 2019, marketing carriers posted an on-time arrival rate of 78.4 percent, down from both the 80.0 percent on-time rate in December 2018 and from 79.4 percent in January 2018     Highest Marketing Carrier On-Time Arrival Rates (ATCR Table 1) Hawaiian Airlines Network – 87.2 percent Spirit Airlines – 82.9 percent Delta Airlines Network – 82.7 percent   Lowest Marketing Carrier On-Time Arrival Rates (ATCR Table 1) JetBlue Airways – 69.4 percent United Airlines Network – 72.1 percent Allegiant Airlines – 73.4 percent   January Cancellations In January 2019, marketing carriers canceled 3.1 percent of their scheduled domestic flights, a higher rate than 1.2 percent in December 2018 and equal to 3.1 percent in January 2018.    Lowest Marketing Carrier Rates of Canceled Flights (ATCR Table 6) Hawaiian Airlines Network – 0.3 percent Allegiant Airlines – 0.7 percent Delta Air Lines Network – 1.1 percent   Highest Marketing Carrier Rates of Canceled Flights (ATCR Table 6) United Airlines Network – 4.9 percent JetBlue Airways – 4.0 percent Southwest Airlines – 3.5 percent   Tarmac Delays In January 2019, airlines reported 10 tarmac delays of more than three hours on domestic flights, a decrease from the 19 such tarmac delays reported in December 2018, and the 12 tarmac delays reported in January 2018.  In January 2019, airlines reported four tarmac delays of more than four hours on international flights, compared to no tarmac delays reported in December 2018 and 32 tarmac delays reported in January 2018.  Extended tarmac delays are investigated by the Department. Four of the domestic tarmac delays took place at Detroit on Jan. 22 and an additional four took place at the Washington-Baltimore airports that same day.   Domestic Flights with Longest Tarmac Delays Exceeding Three Hours (ATCR Table 8) American Airlines flight 4639 (operated by codeshare partner Republic Airways) from Atlanta to Washington Reagan, 1/13/19 – delayed 4 hours and 42 minutes on the tarmac at Washington Reagan United Airlines flight 3501 (operated by codeshare partner Republic Airways) from Detroit to Newark, N.J., 1/22/19 – delayed 4 hours and 6 minutes on the tarmac at Detroit Delta Air Lines flight 2909 from Detroit to Salt Lake City, 1/22/19 – delayed 3 hours and 57 minutes on the tarmac at Detroit   International Flights with Longest Tarmac Delays Exceeding Four Hours (ATCR Table 8A) Qatar Airways flight 708 from Washington Dulles to Doha, Qatar, 1/13/19 – delayed 5 hours and 3 minutes on the tarmac at Washington Dulles Aeromexico Airlines flight 662 from Guadalajara, Mexico, to San Francisco, 1/10/19 – delayed 4 hours and 22 minutes on the tarmac at Oakland, Calif. After being diverted China Eastern flight 590 from San Francisco, to Shanghai, China, 1/5/19 – delayed 4 hours and 8 minutes on the tarmac at San Francisco   Mishandled Baggage Beginning in 2019, airlines with at least one-half of one percent of the total scheduled-service domestic passenger revenue for the 12-months ending December 2018 are required to report mishandled baggage data for domestic flights.  Mishandled baggage data is to consist of the number of mishandled bags and the number of checked bags.  Previous reports were the number of mishandled baggage reports and passenger enplanements.  The Department has decided to delay the publication in the ATCR of the new mishandled baggage data in order to enable the Department and airlines to ensure the accuracy of the data, which will allow consumers to make informed choices.  Inaccurate data is of little use to consumers.  In May 2019, the Department plans to publish revised ATCRs for February 2019 (December 2018 data), March 2019 (January 2019 data), and April 2019 (February 2019 data) that include the new mishandled baggage data.   Mishandled Wheelchairs and Scooters In January 2019, marketing airlines reported checking 33,115 wheelchairs and scooters and mishandling 681, a rate of 2.06 percent mishandled.  In December 2018, DOT reported mishandled wheelchairs and scooters data for operating carriers for the first time.  These carriers reported 701 mishandlings which is a rate of 2.18 percent mishandled.  See the March 2019 Air Travel Consumer Report for mishandled wheelchair and scooter numbers by airline.   Bumping/Oversales Bumping/oversales data, unlike other air carrier data, are reported quarterly rather than monthly.  Fourth quarter 2018 bumping/oversales data were released in the February 2019 Air Travel Consumer Report.  First quarter 2019 bumping/oversales data will be available in the May 2019 Air Travel Consumer Report.   Incidents Involving Animals In January 2019, U.S. airlines reported one incident involving the death, injury, or loss of an animal while traveling by air, up from the zero reports filed in January 2018, but down from the two reports filed in December 2018.  January's incident involved the death of one animal.   Complaints About Treatment of Disabled Passengers In January 2019, the Department received a total of 48 disability-related complaints, down from both the 66 complaints received in January 2018 and the 67 complaints received in December 2018.  All complaints alleging discrimination on the basis of disability are investigated.   Complaints About Discrimination   In January 2019, the Department received seven complaints alleging discrimination – four regarding race, one regarding national origin, one regarding color, and one regarding religion.  This is equal to the total of seven discrimination complaints reported in January 2018, but up from the three reported in December 2018.  All complaints alleging discrimination are investigated to determine if there has been a violation(s) of the passenger's civil rights.   Consumers may file air travel consumer or civil rights complaints online at http://airconsumer.dot.gov/escomplaint/ConsumerForm.cfm, by voicemail at (202) 366-2220, or by TTY at (202) 366-0511.  They may also mail a complaint to the Aviation Consumer Protection Division, U.S. Department of Transportation, C-75, W96-432, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20590.   Consumers who want on-time performance data for specific flights should call their airline's reservation number or their travel agent.  This information is available on the computerized reservation systems used by these agents.  The information is also available on the appropriate carrier's website.   ###   You are subscribed to DOT email updates. 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Kenya once again considers closing Dadaab camp

The Refugee Brief, 29 March

By Kristy Siegfried | 29 March, 2019 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Kenya once again considers closing Dadaab camp. According to media reports, the Kenyan government is again considering closing the Dadaab refugee camp due to security concerns . Two years ago, Kenya’s high court blocked plans to close Dadaab, ruling that they were unconstitutional. Rights groups have pointed out that the ruling still stands and have urged the government to shelve the plans, pointing out that forcing the more than 200,000 mainly Somali refugees living in the camp to return to Somalia would threaten their rights and safety. Responding to questions from Bloomberg on Thursday, UNHCR spokesperson Dana Hughes said that any refugee returns must be done “on a voluntary and fully informed basis, in conditions of safety and dignity”. Since 2014, some 81,000 refugees have returned to Somalia from Dadaab, but many parts of the country remain unstable and unprepared for large-scale returns. Humanitarian needs soaring in Niger as militancy spreads. The New Humanitarian (formerly known as IRIN) reports from Niger’s western Tillabéri region where intercommunal violence and jihadism have spilled over from neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso, displacing tens of thousands of people in an area already host to nearly 52,000 Malian refugees. The unrest in Tillabéri represents a second border crisis for a country already tackling militancy in Diffa, far to the southeast on the Nigerian border. Aid agencies on Thursday noted an increase in attacks on civilians in the Diffa region since the beginning of the year. An attack on Tuesday caused a dozen civilian casualties and several attacks at the weekend displaced about 10,000 people, according to UNHCR. With refugees living alongside displaced people in both regions, the humanitarian needs are enormous with 10 per cent of the country’s population of 2.3 million people expected to need assistance this year, according to the UN. WHAT’S ON OUR RADAR Turkey quietly works to integrate Syrian refugees. Reuters reports that, with the support of international donors, Turkey is quietly paving the way to integrate many of the nearly four million Syrians who have crossed into the country during eight years of civil war. Political rhetoric ahead of Sunday’s local elections has focused on refugee returns, but many Syrians are putting down roots in Turkey and have no plans to go back. Meanwhile, programmes to assist the refugees, many of them funded by the European Union, are gradually shifting from basic humanitarian assistance to longer-term support focused on helping them access the labour market and send their children to Turkish schools. The desperate families fleeing gang violence in Honduras. The Times meets some of the families who fled for their lives to escape Honduras’ endemic drug-linked violence . Moving to another neighbourhood in Honduras is seldom an option as the influence of the gangs is spread across the country. Instead, increasing numbers are fleeing north, joining thousands of El Salvadorans and Guatemalans hoping to reach the US border and claim asylum. The United States said on Wednesday it had reached an agreement with the governments of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala to carry out a series of measures to curb “irregular migration”. They include joint police operations aimed at countering gangs and organized crime in the three countries as well as strengthening border security. Japan sees sharp decrease in asylum applications. The number of applications for asylum lodged in Japan last year fell by about 47 per cent compared to the previous year, according to data released by the Justice Ministry on Wednesday. Japan had seen a steady rise in asylum claims in recent years. The Ministry attributed the drop from nearly 20,000 applications in 2017 to about 10,500 last year, to the introduction of stricter rules for issuing work permits to asylum-seekers. Japan granted asylum to 42 people last year and residency permits on humanitarian grounds to another 40. Refugee advocates and human rights organizations are reportedly sceptical of the Ministry’s new approach and say they have received complaints from asylum-seekers who were unable to file applications. GET INSPIRED World War II veteran, author and social justice activist Harry Leslie Smith died in November 2018 after devoting the last of his 95 years to travelling around the world advocating for refugees. His son, John Smith, is determined to continue his father’s legacy. He plans to finish the book that Harry began about his experiences with refugees and is organising a trip to meet asylum-seekers in Tijuana, on Mexico’s border with the United States. DID YOU KNOW? Since 2014, 124,300 Somali refugees have returned home from 12 countries. Over 880,000 Somalis continue to live as refugees, mainly in neighbouring countries.

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REMINDER - Hollow Concrete Block (HCB) Manual, Monday, 1st April 2019, HRRP Hall, Jwagal, Lalitpur

INVITATION - Hollow Concrete Block Manual & Building CLPIU Update, 28 Feb, 11AM, DUDBC Hall

View this email in your browser INVITATION TECHNICAL SESSION: Hollow Concrete Block (HCB) Manual  Date:  Monday, 1st April 2019 Time: 14:00 PM -15:30 PM Venue: HRRP Hall, Jwagal, Lalitpur (location) Dear Partners,  Just a gentle reminder about the technical session on Hollow Concrete Block (HCB) taking place on Monday, 1st April from 14:00 PM -15:30 PM at HRRP Hall, Jwagal, Lalitpur. The technical session will focus on sharing the recently published the Hollow Concrete Block (HCB) Manual, available on the NRA website (Link).  The session will include: Development process of Hollow Concrete Block (HCB) manual Overview on Hollow Concrete Block (HCB) manual for load bearing structures There will be plenty of time for questions and discussions. We look forward to seeing you there! Kind regards,  HRRP Team Copyright © 2017 HRRP, All rights reserved. Contact us: info@hrrpnepal.org www.hrrpnepal.org (+977) 01-5544149 HRRP Office, Jwagal, Lalitpur Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list