ATLANTA -- Alaska Airlines had the worst on-time arrival rate among U.S. airlines in February, government data released Thursday showed.

Alaska Airlines had the lowest on-time arrival rate in February, at 76.3 percent, according to the federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Overall, U.S. airlines' on-time performance and baggage handling improved in February, while cancellations declined, compared with the same month a year ago, the data showed. Complaints to the Department of Transportation also dropped year-over-year.

Hawaiian Airlines had the best on-time performance in the month, at 91.2 percent.

Alaska Air's February percentage was an improvement from January, when it was on time 71.5 percent of the time.

The bureau said the 19 carriers reporting on-time performance recorded an overall on-time arrival rate of 82.6 percent in February, an improvement over both February 2008's 68.6 percent and the 77 percent recorded in January of this year.

In February, the carriers canceled 1.2 percent of their scheduled domestic flights, a lower rate than both the 3.6 percent cancellation rate of February 2008 and the 2.3 percent rate posted in January of this year.

The airlines overall had a mishandled baggage rate of 3.56 reports per 1,000 passengers in February, an improvement over both February 2008's rate of 6.41 reports per 1,000 passengers and the rate of 5.2 reports per 1,000 passengers posted in January of this year. Alaska Air was ranked in the middle at 3.51 reported per 1,000 passengers.

The DOT said that in February it received 576 complaints about airline service from consumers, down 38.5 percent from the 937 complaints filed in February 2008 and 34.8 percent fewer than the total of 884 complaints received in January of this year.

The most frequently delayed flight in the month was Delta Air Lines flight 2008 from Savannah, Ga., to Atlanta, which was late 94.1 percent of the time.

Overall at the main Anchorage airport, 74 percent of flights arrived on time and 85 percent departed on time, the February report showed.

The Anchorage Daily News contributed to this report.

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