Delta Air Lines in October for the second consecutive month was the most punctual major U.S. airline,

with an on-time arrival rate of 90.5 percent, according to FlightStats. On average, North American airlines last month delivered about 84 percent of their flights to the gate within 15 minutes of schedule, roughly matching the September average. Among majors, and excluding regional operations, Virgin America (88.9 percent), Alaska Airlines (88.6 percent), US Airways (87.9 percent), JetBlue Airways (86.5 percent) and United Airlines (84.3 percent) posted above-average on-time rates. American Airlines (82.4 percent) and Southwest Airlines (79.2 percent) posted rates below the average.