Delta Air Lines in September was the most punctual major U.S. airline, with an on-time performance rate of 89.3 percent,

according to FlightStats. On average, North American airlines last month delivered 84 percent of their flights to the gate within 15 minutes of schedule, an improvement from a 78 percent average in August. With an "impressive" on-time performance rate, according to FlightStats, Delta knocked consistently punctual Alaska Airlines from its perch among major U.S. carriers. US Airways, too, bested Alaska with an 88.3 percent on-time rate. Among other majors, Alaska (86.8 percent) and Virgin America (84.8 percent) performed better than average, as United (83.6 percent), American (83.1 percent), JetBlue (82.5 percent) and Southwest (76.6 percent) posted below-average on-time rates.