US airlines improve January on-time performance, reduce cancelations versus year ago

Flights were more likely to be on time and less likely to be canceled in January than they were a year earlier, when winter storms wrecked airline schedules.

The U.S. Department of Transportation said Monday that 76.8 percent of flights were on time in January, up from 67.7 percent in January 2014. About 2.5 percent of flights were canceled, down from 6.5 percent a year earlier.

Delta Air Lines topped the on-time rankings at 86.1 percent. Envoy Air, which operates many American Eagle flights for American Airlines, finished last, at 60.4 percent. Envoy also had the highest rate of mishandled bags.