U.S. airlines continue to improve on-time arrivals

July 19-- U.S. airlines reported on-time arrivals on 83.4 percent of their flights in May, the eighth consecutive month in which the industry improved its on-time arrival performance compared with the same month a year earlier, a federal agency and industry trade group said.

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics said 83.4 percent of U.S. airline flights arrived within 15 minutes of scheduled arrival time in May, a 6 percentage point improvement from the same month last year.

The top three airlines for on-time arrivals in May were Hawaiian, with 94.7 percent of flights on time; Alaska, 91.46 percent; and AirTran, 88.04 percent.

American Eagle, the regional airline affiliate of American Airlines, ranked 11th in on-time arrivals in May with 83.08 percent. American Airlines ranked 13th in May with an on-time arrival rate of 80.3 percent.

For the first five months of the year, Hawaiian ranked first with an on-time arrival percentage of 93.23, followed by AirTran at 90.4 percent and Delta at 87.8 percent. The industry average on-time arrival percentage, January through May, was 84.3 percent.

And through the first five months of 2012, American Eagle ranked 11th in the industry, with an on-time percentage of 83.08, followed by 12th-ranked American at 82.2 percent.

Nicholas E. Calio, president and CEO of Airlines for America, formerly the Air Transport Association, said mild weather aided the industry's performance through the first five months.

"Our member airlines are systematically improving their operations, focused on what matters most to customers: arriving safely, on time and with their bags," Calio said.

D.R. Stewart 918-581-8451

[email protected]