The U.S. Department of Transportation has released their Air Travel Consumer Report for April and rated Hawaiian Airlines the best when it came to on-time arrival rates for flights and lowest cancelations.

Hawaiian Airlines had an on-time rate of 91.1 percent, second was Pinnacle Airlines at 86.2 percent and third was SkyWest Airlines at 85.8 percent. The lowest on-time arrival rate was Continental Airlines at 72 percent.

Overall the average percent of on-time arrivals for all airlines was 79.1 percent which is up from the previous month of March where the average was 78.4 percent. During the previous year for April 2008 the on-time rate was 77.7 percent.

Hawaiian Airlines also tied with Alaska Airlines the top spot on the lowest rate of canceled flights at 0.4 percent. Northwest Airlines came in second at 0.5 percent.

Nationwide the most frequently delayed flight during the month of April was Northwest Airlines flight 803 from Atlanta to Honolulu which was late 96.55 percent of the time. The longest tarmac delay was American Airlines flight 2306 from Vail/Eagle, Colorado to Dallas/Fort Worth airport on April 3 which sat on the tarmac for 4 hours and 50 minutes before taking-off.

In April, the DOT received 781 complaints about airline service from consumers, down 29.8 percent from the 1,112 complaints filed in April 2008 but 10.8 percent more than the total of 705 complaints received in March 2009.

Consumers may file their complaints in writing with the Aviation Consumer Protection Division, U.S. Department of Transportation, C-75, W96-432, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, Washington, DC 20590; by voice mail at (202) 366-2220 or by TTY at (202) 366-0511; or on the web at http://airconsumer.dot.gov.

KEY ON-TIME PERFORMANCE AND FLIGHT CANCELLATION STATISTICS
Based on Data Filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics by the 19 Reporting Carriers

Overall
79.1 percent on-time arrivals

Highest On-Time Arrival Rates
Hawaiian Airlines – 91.1 percent
Pinnacle Airlines – 86.2 percent
3. SkyWest Airlines – 85.8 percent

Lowest On-Time Arrival Rates
Comair – 68.6 percent
Atlantic Southeast Airlines – 69.4 percent
Continental Airlines – 72.0 percent

Most Frequently Delayed Flights
1. Northwest Airlines flight 803 from Atlanta to Honolulu – late 96.55 percent of the time
2. Comair flight 6652 from Kansas City, MO to New York LaGuardia – late 96.15 percent of the time
3. Comair flight 6295 from Indianapolis to New York JFK – late 90.00 percent of the time
3. Comair flight 6675 from New York JFK to Dallas/Fort Worth – late 90.00 percent of the time
3. Continental Airlines flight 1567 from Cleveland to Newark, NJ – late 90.00 percent of the time
3. SkyWest Airlines flight 2852 from Milwaukee to Newark, NJ – late 90.00 percent of the time

Flights with Longest Tarmac Delays
American Airlines flight 2306 from Vail/Eagle, CO to Dallas/Fort Worth, 4/3/09 – delayed on tarmac 290 minutes
United Airlines flight 406 from Denver to New York LaGuardia, 4/17/09 – delayed on tarmac 264 minutes
American Airlines flight 370 from Chicago O’Hare to New York LaGuardia, 4/20/09 – delayed on tarmac 249 minutes
JetBlue Airways flight 1103 from New York JFK to Raleigh/Durham, NC, 4/6/09 – delayed on tarmac 247 minutes
American Airlines flight 2396 from Vail/Eagle, CO to New York JFK, 4/3/09 – delayed on tarmac 240 minutes

Highest Rates of Canceled Flights
1. American Eagle Airlines – 3.3 percent
2. JetBlue Airways – 3.2 percent
3. Atlantic Southeast Airlines – 3.2 percent

Lowest Rates of Canceled Flights
Alaska Airlines – 0.4 percent
Hawaiian Airlines – 0.4 percent
Northwest Airlines – 0.5 percent