AirTran bumps Hawaiian from top spot for punctuality

AirTran Airways tops all U.S. airlines in the latest rankings for on-time arrivals, knocking off perennial winner Hawaiian Airlines.

The bad news for passengers who love punctuality: You can’t fly on AirTran anymore.

The low-fare carrier flew its last revenue flight on Dec. 28 and has been folded into Southwest Airlines, which bought AirTran in 2011.

The U.S. Department of Transportation said Tuesday that 80.6 percent of domestic flights on the 14 biggest airlines arrived within 14 minutes of schedule in November. That was better than October’s 80.0 percent on-time rate, but down from 83.5 percent in November 2013.

AirTran posted a 90.4 percent rating, and Hawaiian was second at 89.4 percent. Alaska Airlines was third at 84.7 percent, Virgin America fourth at 82.7 percent and Southwest, including its namesake carrier and AirTran combined, was fifth at 81.4 percent. Southwest separately was at 81 percent.