By Michael Oneal | Chicago-based United Airlines posted the best on-time performance among major carriers in January, making good on a push for better quality service initiated by President John Tague last year. United’s flights arrived within 14 minutes of their published schedule 83.66 percent of the time, the U.S. Department of Transportation reported, partly because the carrier was more proactive in cancelling flights at O’Hare International Airport in advance of bad weather reports.

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Smaller carriers Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines both finished the month with slightly higher timeliness ratings, the agency said. But United topped its competition among major carriers like American, Delta and Southwest.

U.S. airlines’ on-time performance improved overall in January, the DOT said, because carriers significantly reduced flying in response to last year’s recession, making airports and the skies less crowded. That reduces flight delays and cancellations when bad weather or other problems occur, the agency said.

The drop in traffic also helped lead to improved luggage handling. The industry had a mishandled baggage rate of 4.62 per 1,000 passengers in January, down from 5.31 a year earlier and December’s 5.18 rate. But better luggage service is a mixed blessing. The DOT said another reason for the improvement was that the drop in travel demand has led many carriers to impose new fees for checked luggage. As fewer travelers check bags, airlines are less exposed to the risk of mishandling them.

The 18 carriers reporting their on-time statistics had an overall timeliness rate of 78.7%, up from 77% a year earlier and 72% in December. The agency said carriers canceled 2.5% of their scheduled flights, compared with 2.3% a year earlier and 2.8% the prior month.

A flight is counted as “on time” if it operated less than 15 minutes after the scheduled time shown in the carriers’ computerized reservation system.

AMR Corp.’s American Eagle again had the worst on-time performance, flying on time 72.8% of the time in January, followed by Delta Air Lines Inc. subsidiary Comair and Pinnacle Airlines, which both posted a 73% rate. Pinnacle is the only airline that voluntarily reports data to the department.

Although Hawaiian had the best overall on-time performance with a rate of 86.73 percent, it also flew the most frequently delayed flight in January. Flight 9 from Los Angeles to Honolulu, Hawaii, was late 92% of the time.

Starting with this report, Northwest Airlines is no longer a ranked carrier, having merged with Delta in January.