Alaska Airlines in March was the most punctual major U.S. airline,

with an on-time arrival rate of 88 percent, according to FlightStats. On average, North American airlines in March delivered 77.2 percent of their flights to the gate within 15 minutes of schedule. Among the eight largest U.S.-based carriers, excluding regional partners, Virgin America (86.5 percent), Delta (84.4 percent), US Airways (82.4 percent), American (81.2 percent), United (79.9 percent) and JetBlue (78.6 percent) posted above-average on-time ratings, according to FlightStats. Southwest's 73.7 percent on-time arrival rating fell below the average.