United States airlines posted their best on- time rate since 2003 last year as a cutback in the number of flights during the recession drove down delays.

Planes arrived within 15 minutes of schedule on 79.5 percent of flights in 2009, the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics said today. United Airlines topped large full-fare carriers with an 81 percent rate, 10 points higher than 2008.

United, the third-biggest US airline, was among carriers that trimmed seating capacity in each of the past two years to match demand and gain pricing power. Flights by major airlines fell to the fewest since 2002, when consumers curtailed travel after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, according to today’s report.

“Capacity reductions were largely responsible” for the industry’s performance gains, said Hunter Keay, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus & Co. in Baltimore. “Airlines have been making efforts to improve on-time metrics, but those efforts are made much easier with fewer planes in the sky.”

At Chicago-based United, better employee coordination and a new goal to finish pre-flight procedures 10 minutes before takeoff boosted results, said Scott Dolan, senior vice president of airport operations, cargo and regional flights.

“We’ve had a huge focus on getting the airplane out on time,” Dolan said in a telephone interview.

“We’re trying to get to the root cause of why delays occur, find things upstream in the process that may ripple through.”

UAL Corp.’s United paid front-line workers $100 each month the carrier ranked first in on-time performance among its peers, and $65 when it ranked second. Payouts totaled $32 million, or $825 for each person, Dolan said.

Hawaiian Holdings Inc.’s Hawaiian Airlines had the best on-time rate for the year at 92.1 percent followed by Southwest Airlines Co. at 83 percent. Alaska Air Group Inc.’s Alaska Airlines was third at 82.9 percent.

Delta Air Lines Inc., the world’s largest carrier, finished 12th in on-time performance at 78.6 percent.

Delta’s Comair regional unit had the lowest on-time performance of 19 carriers reporting results, at 69 percent. SkyWest Inc.’s Atlantic Southeast Airlines, which flies mostly for Delta, had the second lowest, at 71.2 percent. (Bloomberg)