U.S. airlines improve on-time performances in 2008

— -- The nation's biggest airlines did a better job of arriving on time in 2008 as they cut their number of flights, the Transportation Department reported Monday.

More than three-quarters — 76% — of the flights operated by the 19 largest airlines arrived on time, the department's Bureau of Transportation Statistics said. In 2007, 73.4% of their flights were on time. A flight is considered on time if it arrives within 15 minutes of schedule.

The improvement came despite a bad December, when only 65.3% of flights arrived on time. That's a drop from 83.3% in November and only slightly better than December 2007, when 64.3% of flights arrived on time.

About 45% of delays in December 2008 were caused by weather, the bureau said.

The airlines' performance benefited from having fewer flights vying for space at airport gates compared with 2007.

Sluggish demand and rising fuel prices forced airlines to eliminate many unprofitable routes last year, particularly in the second half. As of December, the number of flights by the largest carriers was down 11% from a year before to 545,000.

"2007 was the worst year we've had in a long time," says Dean Headley, a professor at Wichita State University and co-author of the annual Airline Quality Rating. "Finally, airlines began to realize capacity and demand needed to match better. In 2007, they were working with the idea of 'let's just get some flights out there.' They were losing their rear."

Among large airlines, Southwest had the highest on-time rate in 2008, with 80.5%. American Airlines, with 69.8%, had the lowest.

Despite the improvement, the industry continues to underperform. December 2008 was the fourth-worst month for on-time arrivals since the government began keeping track in 1995. It was the third-worst December.

Other indicators also improved last year:

•Only 1.96% of scheduled domestic flights were canceled compared with 2.16% in 2007.

•Fewer bags were mishandled, at a rate of 5.26 reports of mishandling per 1,000 passengers compared with 7.05 in 2007.