It was not such a great year for airline passengers: On-time arrival rates for airlines were down to the lowest level in four years.
Arriving in Dhaka, there's consternation among passengers; the train is on time.
A car service will cost $43 to $55 to Midtown for up to four passengers, depending on time of day, plus toll and tip.
The reason for that is pretty obvious: The shared ride service is dependent on passengers being on time to make it work, otherwise everyone's late and frustrated and grumpy.
The rankings are based on an assessment of passenger volume, on-time statistics, historical weather patterns and amenities.
It's just as well because passengers seldom take on-time percentages into account when buying airline tickets anyway.
Airlines, he added, have invested in technology, for instance, that benefits all passengers by improving on-time performance and by making sure you and your bag arrive at the same time.
But in August, America West was still at the bottom of the industry in terms of passenger complaints and on-time performance.
So trains carrying hundreds of people can be late regularly, but trains on the same route that run late at night or at the weekend and carry only a handful of passengers can arrive on time and mask the huge impact of the other service failures.
Another problem with the existing system, critics say, is that the airlines are responsible, and that as long as their main goal is getting passengers on airplanes on time, the thoroughness of the checks will vary with the length of the line of people waiting to be cleared.
Besides refunding money for late flights, the Biztravel.com guarantee covers seat assignments ($25 for domestic and $50 for international passengers who arrive on time and don't get their designated seat assignment) and meal service in first and business classes ($25 if you don't get your choice of the available entrees).
