Southwest: 2009 a good year for on-time flights

Southwest Airlines, the primary commercial airline serving Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip, had a good year in 2009 when it comes to on-time flights.

The low-cost airline ranked second among the nation's busiest air carriers for the highest percent of its flights being on time, according to statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Eighty-three percent of Southwest's flights were on-time in 2009, which put the airline behind Hawaiian Airlines, which was first with 92 percent. Alaska Airlines was third with 82.9 percent.

"Airplanes don't make money on the ground," said Paul Flaningan, a spokesman for Southwest. "Customers depend on us to get them to where they need to be in a safe and timely way."

Overall, U.S. airlines posted their best on-time rate since 2003 last year. Airlines arrived on time - flights that arrived less than 15 minutes past scheduled times - on 79.5 percent of their flights, according to the statistics. The rate was 82 percent in 2003, according to the statistics, which were released Friday by the federal government.