Northwest Airlines in August had the best on-time performance among major U.S. carriers

at 85.3 percent, according to government statistics. It was followed in order by Southwest Airlines, Frontier Airlines and US Airways. At 64.7 percent, JetBlue Airways ranked last among the 11 majors for a second consecutive month. Overall, the U.S. airline industry posted an August punctuality rate of 78.4 percent, better than both August 2007 (71.7 percent) and July 2008 (75.7 percent).