April on-time arrival rate for US airlines improved

NEW YORK -US airlines' on-time arrival rate improved in April, a month after they posted their worst March results since 1995, the Transportation Department reported.

About 77.7 percent of flights arrived within 15 minutes of the scheduled time, an increase from 75.7 percent a year earlier, the Washington agency said yesterday on its website.

The improvement suggests the Federal Aviation Administration may be succeeding in limiting delays as the summer travel season picks up during June. Last year's delays were the second worst on record.

Boston's Logan International Airport improved its ranking for both on-time departure and arrival performance in April, according to data released by the Department of Transportation.

Logan ranked 14th with 81.8 percent of flights leaving within 15 minutes of scheduled departure, up from 26th a year earlier when just 72 percent left on time. It also moved up to 25th in on-time arrivals at 75.1 percent, rising from 27th a year earlier, when 65.7 percent of arrivals were on time.

"As airlines keep reducing the number of flights due to the rising price of oil, this summer may not be as bad as many were predicting," David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association passenger advocacy group, said in an interview.

"Let's hope this is a sign that congestion will be eased."

US carriers have said that they will offer fewer seats for sale as they seek to boost demand to help cope with a 73 percent jump in the price of jet fuel in the past year.

Airports in the New York area and Chicago had the highest percentages of late arrivals, with 43.9 percent at New York's LaGuardia, 31.3 percent at Newark's Liberty, 29.6 percent at Chicago's O'Hare, and 27.7 percent at New York's Kennedy.

"We're still grappling with the New York area congestion, which accounts for nearly half of all delay minutes" and less than one-eighth of flights, said Victoria Day, a spokeswoman for the Air Transport Association, a Washington trade group that includes the major airlines.

Salt Lake City was the least congested airport in April, with 12.4 percent of flights arriving more than 15 minutes after their scheduled time, according to the Transportation Department.

Reports of mishandled baggage fell to 4.99 per 1,000 passengers from 6.34 a year earlier, the department said. Total consumer complaints declined to 1,113 from 1,248.

The rate of flight cancellations dropped to 1.7 percent, from 1.8 percent in April 2007.

Nicole C. Wong of the Globe staff contributed to this report.