CHARLOTTE, N.C. TheStreet) - August operational performance statistics for US Airways provide an indication of the tensions at a divided airline.
On the one hand, US Airways finished among first its five peers in baggage handling, with only about three mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers. On the other, it finished fourth among peers in on-time performance, lower than in the previous three years. Year-to-date, US Airways is third in on-time.
The carrier was first in 2008. In 2009 and 2010, it was second to United. In 2009, the two airlines were divided by a tenth of a percentage point.
The discrepancy in year-to-date performance may relate to a perceived safety slowdown by a segment of the U.S Airline Pilots Association, the union representing US Airways pilots. A U.S. District Court judge in Charlotte is deciding whether the pilots are in fact staging a slowdown. The airline and many employees believe that is the case. Pilots deny it and say they are simply acting to ensure safety.
The one thing all parties agree on is that U.S. District Court Judge Robert Conrad is taking a while to make a decision following the hearing's Aug. 22 conclusion.
At any airline, many employees' principal assignments include ensuring on-time departures. This goal has been underscored in recent years, as most carriers have implemented cash awards to employees for besting other carriers in operational performance.
In August, US Airways awarded employees a $50 cash bonus for the first-place baggage handling performance. In a Sept. 12 letter to employees, Chief Operating Officer Robert Isom, widely credited with overseeing the airline's vast improvement in on-time performance since 2007, accentuated the positive.
"Our return to first place in bags shows that we have the right people and tools in place to provide customers with an excellent experience," Isom wrote. He also noted that on-time performance improved from May and June, and that before Hurricane Irene, which caused the cancellation of 2,400 flights at the end of August, US Airways still had a mathematical chance to finish first in on-time performance for the full year.
USAPA spokesman James Ray said pilots are not staging a safety slowdown.
"Perhaps the declining on-time stats in the spring and early summer were related to historically poor weather in Charlotte and to airport construction," he said. A runway was closed for construction in August, Ray said. Earlier, taxiway closures and ramp construction contributed to taxi delays. "Pilots' number one goal is to operate a safe airline," Ray said.
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