Report: Eighty percent of flights on-time, best since 2003

U.S. airlines posted their best on- time rate since 2003 last year as a cutback in the number of flights during the recession drove down delays.

Airlines arrived less than 15 minutes past scheduled times on 79.5 percent of flights, the highest rate since 82 percent were on time in 2003, the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics said in a statement today.

U.S. carriers including Delta Air Lines Inc. and United Airlines have reduced capacity each of the past two years to help match demand and help gain pricing power. The number of flights major carriers scheduled was the lowest since 2002, when consumers curtailed travel after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, according to today's report.

Hawaiian Holdings Inc.'s Hawaiian Airlines had the best on- time rate for the year at 92.1 percent followed by Southwest Airlines Co. at 83 percent. Alaska Air Group Inc.'s Alaska Airlines was third at 82.9 percent.

UAL Corp.'s United had the best on-time performance among the nation's five largest full-fare carriers at 81 percent, a 10-point improvement from 2008. United trimmed capacity 9.7 percent last year.

"This is the direct result of the work we did in 2009 through good weather and bad, at each airport and across every department and work group," United President John Tague said today in a statement.

Delta's Comair had the lowest on-time performance of 19 carriers who reported results, at 69 percent. SkyWest Inc.'s Atlantic Southeast had the second lowest, at 71.2 percent.

Two of the New York area's airports were the most congested in 2009, with just 65.8 percent of flights arriving on time in Newark, New Jersey's Liberty airport and 68.7 percent at New York's LaGuardia. Atlanta's airport was the third-most congested for the year, with 72.6 percent arriving on time.

Carriers also lost fewer bags last year, according to the Transportation Department report. They mishandled 3.91 for every 1,000 passengers, down from 5.26 in 2008.