Flights operated by the nation’s largest airlines arrived on time at a higher rate this past September than in either September of last year or in August 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

The 19 major U.S. carriers recorded an overall on-time arrival rate of 86.2 percent in September, higher than both September 2008’s 84.9 percent and August 2009’s 79.7 percent.

In September, the carriers canceled 0.6 percent of their scheduled domestic flights, a lower rate than both the 1.8 percent cancellation rate of September 2008 and the 1.0 percent rate posted in August 2009.

That same month, those same carriers reported that .0001 percent of their scheduled flights had tarmac delays of three hours or more, down from .012 percent in August. There were two flights with tarmac delays of four hours or more in September.

Key on-time performance and flight cancellation statistics based on data from the 19 reporting carriers:

Overall performance: 86.2 percent on-time arrivals

Highest On-Time Arrival Rates

1. Hawaiian Airlines – 94.1 percent
2. Alaska Airlines – 90.0 percent
3. Southwest Airlines – 89.1 percent
Lowest On-Time Arrival Rates
1. Atlantic Southeast Airlines – 72.2 percent
2. Comair – 80.5 percent
3. Delta Air Lines – 82.2 percent

Most Frequently Delayed Flights

1. SkyWest Airlines flight 4547 from Atlanta to Oklahoma City – late 88.00 percent of the time
2. AirTran Airways flight 455 from New Orleans to Atlanta – late 85.71 percent of the time
3. Atlantic Southeast Airlines flight 5220 from Columbia, SC to Atlanta – late 84.00 percent of the time
4. Atlantic Southeast Airlines flight 5349 from Columbia, SC to Atlanta – late 83.33 percent of the time
5. Atlantic Southeast Airlines flight 5228 from Asheville, NC to Atlanta – late 83.33 percent of the time

Flights with Longest Tarmac Delays

1. Delta Air Lines flight 1015 from Philadelphia to Atlanta, 9/21/09 – delayed on tarmac 275 minutes
2. American Airlines flight 1672 from Dallas/Fort Worth to Tulsa, Ok, 9/21/09 – delayed on tarmac 267 minutes

(There were only two flights with tarmac delays of four hours or more in September)

Highest Rates of Canceled Flights

1. American Eagle Airlines – 1.2 percent
2. Atlantic Southeast Airlines – 1.0 percent
3. Mesa Airlines – 0.9 percent

Lowest Rates of Canceled Flights

1. JetBlue Airways – 0.1 percent
2. Continental Airlines – 0.1 percent
3. Hawaiian Airlines – 0.1 percent