New database lists most canceled flights

For travelers, a canceled flight often seems to be the result of bad weather, mechanical problems or random bad luck. But according to data that have only recently been made public, some flights are much more prone to being axed.

United Airlines Flight 650 from Chicago to New York's LaGuardia Airport, for example, was canceled 25 percent of the time last month. Delta Air Lines Flight 778 from Atlanta to Huntsville, Ala., was canceled 38.7 percent of the time.

The most troubled flights seem to be those that are lightly booked and travel into or out of big hubs. These flights are most vulnerable because when airlines are faced with bad weather, mechanical issues or crew shortages that leave them with fewer resources or planes, they opt to cancel flights with the fewest passengers.

Now, a new database is making it possible for consumers to identify — and avoid — the most frequently canceled flights. FlightStats, a Portland, Ore., unit of Conducive Technology Corp. that once developed Web-based products for American Airlines, has built a database of information about most every airline flight in the U.S. FlightStats can now tell you how often a particular flight is canceled, diverted or tardy, along with a maximum, minimum and average delay. The company retrieves its data from sources such as the Federal Aviation Administration and airline reservation systems. The database has been used by freight firms and the U.S. Postal Service to route cargo to dependable flights and track the progress of flights.

Beginning in August, FlightStats opened the data to the public at www.flightstats.com. (You need to download "Crystal Viewer" software from the site to drill into the data and get the most out of FlightStats reports.) Soon, FlightStats data are likely to be incorporated into other Internet and corporate booking engines so consumers will be able to search for flights not only by price but also by reliability.

Other flight information databases also exist. The Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics does have a searchable database (www.bts.gov) where you can look at delays and cancellations for particular flights. But the information is 30-60 days older and not as detailed as FlightStats.

Bankruptcy, a mechanics strike, high oil prices and three big hurricanes all caused flight cancellations this fall. But cancellations were already becoming a bigger issue for travelers because the European Union began forcing airlines to compensate customers in cash for cancellations earlier this year.