假日旅行最佳和最差航空公司

Grab your rolling bag, and pack your patience. The holiday air travel season is about to begin. And if you want to have a stress-free trip, the best advice we can give is to fly west.

拉動你的行李箱，帶上你的耐心。假日航空旅行季節即將到來，如果你想有趟輕鬆愉快的旅程，那麼對美國人最好的建議就是選擇飛往西部。

AirLines with operations based west of the Rockies boast the fewest flights that arrive late during the holidays, according to data compiled for by FlightAware.

根據FlightAware網站爲福布斯編制的數據顯示，總部位於落基山脈以西的航空公司在節假日期間的航班晚點率最低。

Leading the pack of the best airlines for holiday travel is Hawaiian Airlines, followed by another Pacific Coast-focused carrier, Alaska Airlines. Conversely, the worst airline for holiday travel is New York-based JetBlue Airways, with ExpressJet, a regional carrier, coming in next to last, according to the FlightAware data.

在假日旅行最佳航空公司的排行榜上，夏威夷航空公司（Hawaiian Airlines）遙遙領先，緊隨其後的是另一家主要經營太平洋海岸業務的阿拉斯加航空公司（Hawaiian Airlines）。相反，根據FlightAware的數據顯示，假日旅行期間最差的航空公司是總部位於紐約的捷藍航空公司（JetBlue Airways），經營區域航線的快捷航空（ExpressJet）排名倒數第二。

FlightAware, well known among travelers for its flight tracking app, calculated arrival delays for 18 major and regional U.S. airlines over the Thanksgiving and winter holiday (Christmas through New Year’s) travel periods, as defined by the Transportation Department, from 2010 through 2012.

FlightAware以航班跟蹤應用程序而爲旅行者所熟知，從2010年到2012年，這家網站按照美國交通部的規定，統計了感恩節和冬季假期（聖誕節至新年）旅行期間美國18家大航空公司和地區航空公司的航班延誤情況。

We asked FlightAware to look at arrival delays, rather than departure delays, because it is sometimes possible for airlines to make up time lost on the ground while the plane is in the sky.

我們要求FlightAware對航班抵達延誤情況進行統計，而不是航班出發延誤情況，因爲有時候，航空公司可以讓飛機在空中飛行期間追回地面上失去的時間。

Over the three-year period we examined, late arrivals actually declined during the Thanksgiving travel season — just 12 percent of Thanksgiving flights were delayed last year, compared with 19 percent in 2010. according to the Transportation Department.

按照我們過去三年的觀察，感恩節旅遊季期間的航班晚點率實際上有所下降——據美國交通運輸部的數據顯示，去年感恩節航班的晚點率僅爲12%，低於2010年的19%。

But the carriers are having a more difficult time over the winter holidays. About 30 percent of winter holiday flights were delayed in 2012, on top of significant delays in 2011 and 2010. You can check holiday flight statistics from the Transportation Department on its website.

但是航空公司在冬季假日期間的經營更加困難。2012年，大約有30%的冬季假日航班延誤，高於2011年和2010年的航班延誤率。你可以通過美國交通運輸部的網站查看假日航班的統計數據。

Only 6.92 percent of Hawaiian’s flights arrived late during the past three years, almost twice as good as the runner up, Alaska Air — 11.27 percent of its flights arrived late.

在過去三年裏，夏威夷航空公司的航班延誤率只有6.92%，幾乎是排名第二的阿拉斯加航空公司的一半——這家公司的航班延誤率達到11.27%。

You might think Hawaiian has it relatively easy, since its flights rarely have to contend with the kind of challenging weather conditions found on the mainland. Hawaiian perennially rates high in on-time performance rankings, topping the most recent DOT list i n September. It recently announced it will branch well beyond its island home with non-stop service to Beijing.

你可能覺得夏威夷航空的運營相對容易，因爲該公司的航班很少遇到美國大陸那種惡劣的天氣條件。夏威夷航空公司在航班準點率排行榜上常年位居前列，在9月份最新公佈的榜單上創下最高準點率。夏威夷航空公司最近宣佈將把業務拓展到夏威夷島外，開通從檀香山到北京的直達航班。

But Huy Vo, a senior specialist in public relations at Hawaiian, said the short flights, which make up half the airline’s routes, aren’t all that easy to operate. “Our geographic location certainly does give us an advantage, as well as our short-haul routes, ” Vo said. “However, the short-haul routes are the hardest to keep punctual, because the hops are very short, with brief ground time between flights, so any delay is difficult to make up.

然而，夏威夷航空公司公共關係高級專家休伊·沃（Huy Vo）說，佔據該公司半數以上航線的短途航班實際上運營並不容易。他表示，“我們的地理位置確實給我們帶來了優勢，也給我們帶來了短途航線。不過，這些短途航線最難保持準時到達，因爲飛行距離很短，航班在地面的停留時間也短，因此任何延誤都會難以彌補。”

Vo said with each plane flying 12 to 16 segments a day, one late flight can easily cascade into several delays in a single day. To offset that, the airline’s systems operation and control center makes adjustments when needed. That can involve inserting spare planes and extra crews into the schedule to make sure flights stay on time.

休伊·沃表示，每架飛機每天飛行12到16個航段，每個航班晚點都很容易造成當天幾個航班的延誤。爲了解決這個問題，航空公司的系統運行和控制中心會在必要時做出調整。這可能涉及到把備用飛機和臨時機組成員排入時間表，確保航班的準時到達。

On the flip side, why do so many JetBlue flights arrive late during the holidays (22 percent)? For one thing, it flies to and from some of the busiest airports in the country, including New York’s JFK, LaGuardia and Newark Airports. And it encounters some of the same issues as Hawaiian does over the Pacific.

另一方面，爲什麼捷藍航空公司的航班在假日期間晚點率最高（高達22%）？首先，這家航空公司的飛機往返美國最繁忙的幾個機場，包括紐約肯尼迪機場、拉瓜迪亞機場和紐瓦克機場。捷藍航空公司也遇到了夏威夷航空公司在太平洋空域上遇到的相同問題。

“With 75 percent of our flights touching the Northeast, either New York or Boston, one delay in the morning can affect the entire line of flying for that airplane, ” said Jenny Dervin, a JetBlue spokeswoman. And, the Northeast is particularly affected by the kind of winter storms that delay flights.

捷藍航空公司發言人珍妮·德文（Jenny Dervin）說，“我們75%的航班在東北部起降，無論是紐約還是波士頓，早上航班的延誤都可能會影響這架飛機的整條航線。”美國東北部特別容易受到冬季暴風雪的影響，導致航班延誤。

“This is not an excuse — this is the reality of the environment we operate in, ” Dervin said. Since 2012, JetBlue has been implementing a series of technology efforts to help it recover more quickly from bad weather. She said other tools are coming online that will help the airline keep to its schedules.

珍妮·德文表示，“這並不是藉口——這是我們經營環境的現實情況。”2012年以來，捷藍航空公司實施了一系列技術手段，幫助該公司儘快恢復正常，擺脫惡劣天氣的影響。她表示，正在使用其他手段來幫助航空公司保證航班準時起降。

(Actually, JetBlue wasn’t the absolute worst airline for departure delays the last three holiday seasons. That crown went to Comair, a regional carrier for Delta Air Lines

（實際上，在過去三年的節日假期裏，捷藍航空公司絕對不是航班起飛延誤最糟糕的航空公司。這項殊榮要授予Comair公司，這是達美航空公司經營地區航線的公司。不過該公司在2012年假日季節開始前停業，因此我們沒有讓這家公司上榜。）

Flying during the holidays takes special strategies, which we’ve outlined here. It also means being prepared for significant weather delays, especially in the Northeast and Midwest.

在假日期間飛行要採取特殊的策略。這也意味着人們要爲重大天氣延誤做好準備，尤其是美國東北部和中西部的惡劣天氣。

No one in Detroit has forgotten the snowstorm of 1999, when airplanes were mired for hours on the tarmac at Detroit Metropolitan International Airport. Likewise, US Airways encountered its own holiday mishap in 2004-05, when more than 72, 000 bags were lost or damaged.

底特律居民都不會忘記1999年的暴風雪，當時多架飛機在底特律大都會國際機場的停機坪上滯留了數小時。同樣，全美航空公司（US Airways）在2004年至2005年也遭遇了假日事故，當時超過72,000件行李丟失或損壞。

Among the major U.S. airlines, US Airways had the best holiday on-time performance, coming in fifth with 15.57 percent of its flights arriving late during Thanksgiving and Christmas. Meanwhile, American Airlines, with which US Airways plans to merge, was the fourth worst, with 19.7 percent of flights arriving late, according to FlightAware.

在主要的美國航空公司中，全美航空公司擁有最高的假日航班準點率，在榜單上排名第五，去年感恩節和聖誕節期間的航班延誤率爲15.57%。與此同時，計劃和全美航空公司合併的美國航空公司（American Airlines）排名倒數第四，FlightAware網站的數據顯示，該公司航班延誤率達到19.7%。

Since merged airlines often continue to report delay statistics separately, it may take a few years to see how the new American does during holiday travel.

由於合併後的航空公司通常繼續分別公佈航班延誤統計數據，我們可能需要幾年時間，才能看到全新美國航空公司在假日旅行方面表現如何。