American

ation and we will run better,” Daley said.

Some other statistics from American’s operation in Phoenix in January:

❚ It went 18 days without any cancellations.

❚ It improved its on-time departure rate by 1.3%.

❚ It improved its on-time arrivals by 2%.

❚ It delayed 1.1% fewer flights. “It’s a tribute to our customer service and our ramp team members, everyone pulling together to provide good service, and the numbers are bearing that out,” Daley said.

Recovering from a rough summer

In December, American executives felt the airline had turned a corner after a rocky summer riddled with cancellations due to weather and labor disputes. They were optimistic that things were turning around after recording positive on-time performance numbers over the busy Thanksgiving holiday.

That optimism is continuing into the new year. In January, American Airlines operated 189,616 flights system-wide and 84.2% of those flights arrived on time. Compare that to June 2019 when the Department of Transportation statistics show 70.4% of American flights arrived on time. Across the entire network, the airline went eight days without a single cancellation among all of its operations.

“We felt like it was an improvement. It felt smoother, easier, cleaner, but the numbers just backed that up when they were calculated,” Daley said.

Ready for the March crush

Last year, 4.5 million passengers flew through Sky Harbor Airport in March. American carried the largest portion of those travelers, with 1 million of them boarding American flights.

Those numbers will likely grow this year.

And along with serving more passengers, the airline handles many more bags at this time of year as passengers check more oversize luggage like golf clubs and other sporting equipment.

To prepare for that, American recently upgraded its belt system to handle larger luggage. Last fall, it received new conveyor belt systems to load luggage onto planes. Daley expects that will make the process of loading bags a little smoother this year.

“We’ve definitely got our staffing numbers preplanned and we’re looking forward to having the staff to handle influx of customers,” Daley said.