US carriers improve on-time performance

The United States department of transportation has released statistics showing that the country's largest airlines improved their ratio of on-time flights in May.

According to the Air Travel Consumer Report, the rate of punctuality improved on both May of the previous year and April 2008, while the number of flight cancellations and baggage handling problems decreased.

The 19 airlines that reported on-time performance in May achieved an overall on-time arrival rate of 79 per cent.

There were only 4.59 reports of mishandled baggage per 1,000 passengers in the fifth month of this year, compared to 5.94 in May 2007.

US Airways was ranked one of the top three most punctual of the ten largest American carriers in May, a fact that was celebrated by president Scott Kirby.

"We're running one of the most consistently reliable airlines despite the unprecedented challenges facing our industry," he said.

"Our 35,000 employees are doing what they do best, and that's taking care of our customers and getting them where they need to go on time."

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