Virgin America in December was the most punctual major U.S. airline,

with an on-time arrival rate of 86.7 percent, according to FlightStats. On average, North American airlines delivered 70.3 percent of their flights to the gate within 15 minutes of schedule. Among the eight largest U.S.-based carriers, Alaska (85.3 percent), Delta (79.3 percent), US Airways (78.8 percent), American (74.4 percent) and United (73.5 percent) posted above-average on-time ratings. JetBlue (64.2 percent) and Southwest (59.3 percent) posted below-average ratings, according to FlightStats.