DOW JONES NEWSWIRES U.S. airlines' on-time performance dropped along with rising cancellations in April, the Department of Transportation said Tuesday, as fliers also reported fewer mishandled bags but filed slightly more complaints than a month earlier. The DOT's Bureau of Transportation Statistics said the 16 carriers reporting on-time performance had an overall rate of 75.5%, down from 85.3% a year earlier and below 79.2% in March. The agency said carriers canceled 2% of their scheduled flights, compared with 0.7% a year earlier and 1.3% in March. A flight is counted as "on-time" if it operated less than 15 minutes after the scheduled time shown in the carriers' computerized reservation system. Airlines' on-time performance has been uneven in recent months as carriers boost their capacity to meet rising demand. That makes skies more crowded and leaves carriers more vulnerable to delays. SkyWest Inc.'s (SKYW) ExpressJet had the worst on-time performance in April with 68% of flights on-time, followed by JetBlue Airways Corp. (JBLU), which posted a 68.4% rate. Hawaiian Holdings Inc.'s (HA) Hawaiian Airlines again led with a 94.1% on-time rate. The most frequently delayed trip in April was Southwest Airlines Co.'s (LUV) flight 103 from Chicago Midway Airport to Newark Liberty International Airport, which was late 90% of the time. Meanwhile, the industry had a mishandled baggage rate of 3.24 per 1,000 passengers in April, up from 2.84 a year earlier but down from March's 3.32 rate. The DOT also received 879 overall complaints in April, compared with 878 and 803, respectively. Stepped-up fees for checked luggage have prompted fewer travelers check bags, leaving airlines less exposed to the risk of mishandling them, but an overall rebound in air travel has also made some flights more crowded. -By Drew FitzGerald, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2909; Andrew.FitzGerald@dowjones.com
