Airlines’ performance improves

The nation’s largest airlines had a rate of on-time flights this past July that was higher than both the same month last year and the mark posted in June 2009, according to the Air Travel Consumer Report released by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

According to information filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), the 19 carriers reporting on-time performance recorded an overall on-time arrival rate of 77.6 percent in July, better than both the 75.7 percent on-time rate of July 2008 and June 2009′s 76.1 percent.

In July, the carriers canceled 1.2 percent of their scheduled domestic flights, lower than both the 1.7 percent cancellation rate of July 2008 and the 1.5 percent rate posted in June 2009.