If it weren't for the weather and luggage, the regional carriers might perform more consistently when graded on the quality of their customer service.

As the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) releases its 2004 scorecard for the quality of airline services, the regionals generally performed at levels below that of most of the major airlines. There were two exceptions, ExpressJet [XJT] had the fewest number of customer complaints of all carriers - regional, network and low-fare. And, SkyWest [SKYW] came in second in the highly publicized on-time sweepstakes. However, the two carriers were not able to turn in consistently superior performances in other graded performances. For example, ExpressJet was No. 12 on the on-time scorecard and SkyWest was No. 7 on the complaints grid. When it came to dealing with lost luggage, ExpressJet was No. 14 and SkyWest was No. 16 - mishandling 10 percent of its luggage.

When scoring on-time performance, the DOT takes into consideration the weather and delays caused by a congested air traffic control system. However, even with these footnotes, the weather can influence a carrier's overall performance. "The weather at year end was a real bang for a number of regional airlines," said Dean Headley, an associate professor at Wichita State University and co-author of the annual Airline Quality Ratings.

However, it is baggage that will always take them out of the top loop when Headley transforms the DOT data into a composite score. "A lot of regionals are almost constantly faced with weight and balance issues. It is almost unavoidable, even with the regional jets. Once a plane is loaded, there frequently needs to be adjustments," Headley said. As luggage - or passengers - are shifted about, the on-time departures begin to slip. And to fine-tune the weight, a bag or two may get left behind.

In DOT's mishandled luggage ranking, ExpressJet was the best performing regional but it still had a problem getting 5.7 percent of its luggage delivered with the customer. A year ago, ExpressJet was best regional carrier and its handling of the luggage was even better. The worst performance by a regional was Atlantic Southeast Airlines - it lost 14.4 percent of its luggage.

The secret to ExpressJet's above-peer performance when comes to luggage is a high level of cooperation with its code-share partner, and former owner, Continental Airlines [CAL]]. "We handle ourselves in some stations and Continental handles us in others," said Kristy Nicholas, an ExpressJet spokeswoman. "It is the cooperation between the two carriers that makes it work. We both strive to create a seamless level of service."

Flying smaller planes has a flip side to the weight issue. Headley noted the regional aircraft fills up faster and the carriers can take off faster.

While SkyWest was second only to Hawaiian Airlines in on-time performance, its 2004 performance was 5 points poorer than its 2003 performance. It could be because it is now flying more United Express routes into the congested Chicago O'Hare on a regular basis. In December, DOT reported that a SkyWest flight from Indianapolis to Chicago was late 100 percent of the time.

As a regional, ExpressJet does not control its own destiny, Nicholas said. Continental sets the schedule, which can predetermine on-time performance. One sore spot in the schedule is Newark Liberty International Airport. With frequent ground stops between 5 and 7 p.m. daily, "it is very challenging to operate on-time." When the controller imposes ground stops, only a fixed number of planes will be able to take off or land during the peak travel window. "If we know there will be a ground stop, we will pre-cancel our flights. We will call our customers at home so our customers don't have the inconvenience of finding out about the cancellation after they arrive at the airport." The cancelled ExpressJet flights provides Continental with slots for its mainline takeoffs.

The regional carriers are also more careful about overbooking - always a source of consumer complaints - because there are fewer seats to fudge with. "They know the closeness they have to cut things," he said.

>>Contacts: Dean Headley, Wichita State University, (316) 978-3367; Kristy Nicholas, ExpressJet, (713) 324-4755.<<