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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.
拉动你的行李箱，带上你的耐心。假日航空旅行季节即将到来，如果你想有趟轻松愉快的旅程，那么对美国人最好的建议就是选择飞往西部。
Airlines with operations based west of the Rockies boast the fewest flights that arrive late during the holidays, according to data compiled for Forbes.com by FlightAware.
根据FlightAware网站为福布斯编制的数据显示，总部位于落基山脉以西的航空公司在节假日期间的航班晚点率最低。
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）遥遥领先，紧随其后的是另一家主要经营太平洋海岸业务的阿拉斯加航空公司（Hawaiian Airlines）。相反，根据FlightAware的数据显示，假日旅行期间最差的航空公司是总部位于纽约的捷蓝航空公司（JetBlue Airways），经营区域航线的快捷航空（ExpressJet）排名倒数第二。
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以航班跟踪应用程序而为旅行者所熟知，从2010年到2012年，这家网站按照美国交通部的规定，统计了感恩节和冬季假期（圣诞节至新年）旅行期间美国18家大航空公司和地区航空公司的航班延误情况。
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.
我们要求FlightAware对航班抵达延误情况进行统计，而不是航班出发延误情况，因为有时候，航空公司可以让飞机在空中飞行期间追回地面上失去的时间。
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.
按照我们过去三年的观察，感恩节旅游季期间的航班晚点率实际上有所下降——据美国交通运输部的数据显示，去年感恩节航班的晚点率仅为12%，低于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间的经营更加困难。2012年，大约有30%的冬季假日航班延误，高于2011年和2010年的航班延误率。你可以通过美国交通运输部的网站查看假日航班的统计数据。
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.
在过去三年里，夏威夷航空公司的航班延误率只有6.92%，几乎是排名第二的阿拉斯加航空公司的一半——这家公司的航班延误率达到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.
你可能觉得夏威夷航空的运营相对容易，因为该公司的航班很少遇到美国大陆那种恶劣的天气条件。夏威夷航空公司在航班准点率排行榜上常年位居前列，在9月份最新公布的榜单上创下最高准点率。夏威夷航空公司最近宣布将把业务拓展到夏威夷岛外，开通从檀香山到北京的直达航班。
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关系高级专家休伊·沃（Huy Vo）说，占据该公司半数以上航线的短途航班实际上运营并不容易。他表示，“我们的地理位置确实给我们带来了优势，也给我们带来了短途航线。不过，这些短途航线最难保持准时到达，因为飞行距离很短，航班在地面的停留时间也短，因此任何延误都会难以弥补。”
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，每架飞机每天飞行12到16个航段，每个航班晚点都很容易造成当天几个航班的延误。为了解决这个问题，航空公司的系统运行和控制中心会在必要时做出调整。这可能涉及到把备用飞机和临时机组成员排入时间表，确保航班的准时到达。
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，为什么捷蓝航空公司的航班在假日期间晚点率最高（高达22%）？首先，这家航空公司的飞机往返美国最繁忙的几个机场，包括纽约肯尼迪机场、拉瓜迪亚机场和纽瓦克机场。捷蓝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问题。
“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.
捷蓝航空公司发言人珍妮·德文（Jenny Dervin）说，“我们75%的航班在东北部起降，无论是纽约还是波士顿，早上航班的延误都可能会影响这架飞机的整条航线。”美国东北部特别容易受到冬季暴风雪的影响，导致航班延误。
“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，“这并不是借口——这是我们经营环境的现实情况。”2012年以来，捷蓝航空公司实施了一系列技术手段，帮助该公司尽快恢复正常，摆脱恶劣天气的影响。她表示，正在使用其他手段来帮助航空公司保证航班准时起降。
(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
（实际上，在过去三年的节日假期里，捷蓝航空公司绝对不是航班起飞延误最糟糕的航空公司。这项殊荣要授予Comair公司，这是达美航空公司经营地区航线的公司。不过该公司在2012年假日季节开始前停业，因此我们没有让这家公司上榜。）
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.
在假日期间飞行要采取特殊的策略。这也意味着人们要为重大天气延误做好准备，尤其是美国东北部和中西部的恶劣天气。
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.
底特律居民都不会忘记1999年的暴风雪，当时多架飞机在底特律大都会国际机场的停机坪上滞留了数小时。同样，全美航空公司（US Airways）在2004年至2005年也遭遇了假日事故，当时超过72,000件行李丢失或损坏。
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.
在主要的美国航空公司中，全美航空公司拥有最高的假日航班准点率，在榜单上排名第五，去年感恩节和圣诞节期间的航班延误率为15.57%。与此同时，计划和全美航空公司合并的美国航空公司（American Airlines）排名倒数第四，FlightAware网站的数据显示，该公司航班延误率达到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.
由于合并后的航空公司通常继续分别公布航班延误统计数据，我们可能需要几年时间，才能看到全新美国航空公司在假日旅行方面表现如何。
