On-time arrival rate for major U.S. airlines down

WASHINGTON, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- The overall on-time arrival rate of America's 15 large airlines fell moderately in September compared with the same time last year, according to data released Thursday by U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

The Transportation Department said the 15 carriers reporting on- time performance recorded an overall on-time arrival rate of 83.3 percent in September, down from the 83.9 percent of September 2011, but up from August's 79.1 percent.

Hawaiian Airlines showed best on-time performance with a 96.4 percent arrival rate, followed by AirTran Airlines (90.9 percent) and Delta Air Lines (89.7 percent). In contrast, American Airlines recorded the lowest on-time arrival rate with 58.0 percent, followed by ExpressJet Airlines (81.0 percent) and United Airlines (82.0 percent), according to the data.

With respect to cancellations, the carriers canceled 0.8 percent of their scheduled domestic flights, equal to the 0.8 percent cancellation rate posted in September 2011, but down from 1.3 percent in August 2012.

The DOT releases Air Travel Consumer Report each month, which summarizes the general performance of the U.S. airlines industry, including data on on-time arrival, cancellations, chronically delayed flights, the causes of flight delays and consumer complaints.

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