Last year it was worst on-time performance among the 20 largest carriers.

Source: Chicago Tribune
Author: Julie Johnsson

Despite snow and bitter cold at its Chicago home base, United Airlines scored the best on-time performance among U.S. network carriers for the month of January and finished fourth overall, new federal data show.

That's a shift from January 2008, when United had the worst on-time performance among the 20 largest carriers, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

United and most of its peers have seen marked improvements in their on-time results in recent months while enacting capacity cuts equivalent to grounding a major carrier. Airlines operated 12 percent fewer flights during January vs. the year-ago period, according to BTS.

Business jet traffic is also down more than 40 percent as corporations and wealthy individuals pare spending amid a global recession.

The reduced flying has eased congestion at even perpetually clogged airports like Chicago's O'Hare International, while reducing the burden on air traffic controllers during peak travel periods.

In fact, 77 percent of airline flights arrived on-time during January, up from 72.3 percent one year ago.

Hawaiian Airlines finished first, with 90.8 percent of its flights arriving on-time for the month. It was followed by Southwest Airlines, with an 83.3 percent on-time performance. Regional carrier ExpressJet, with 79.8 percent of flights on-time, edged out the 79 percent on-time results notched by United.

American Airlines, which also operates a major hub at O'Hare, finished 13th with 75.5 percent of its flights arriving as scheduled, BTS data show.