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Southwest had one of the best records, along with Hawaiian and Alaska Airlines. (Charles Dharapak/ Associated Press) |
DALLAS - Airlines are offering fewer flights, but they’re more likely to arrive on time. The government said 86.2 percent of flights arrived on time in September - an improvement over August and over September 2008. The best on-time records were posted by Hawaiian, Alaska Airlines, and Southwest. The worst: Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Comair, and Delta.
A flight is on time if it arrives within 15 minutes of schedule.
Many airlines cut capacity in September, compared with September 2008. They operated fewer flights, and on some routes replaced big planes with smaller ones. Still, some flights were late more than 80 percent of the time.
Three regional carriers - American Eagle, Atlantic Southeast, and Mesa - had the highest rates of canceled flights. JetBlue, Continental, and Hawaiian were least likely to cancel a flight.
There were fewer complaints about mishandled bags: Three of 1,000 passengers complained.
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