Hawaiian Airlines led the nation's carriers in punctuality for the fifth straight year in 2008, according to a U.S. Department of Transportation report released today.

Hawaiian had 90 percent of its flights arrive on time in 2008. That was 9.5 percentage points ahead of the second-place finisher and was 14.0 percentage points better than the industry average.

For December, Hawaiian led the industry with a 79.6 percent on-time rate.

Hawaiian finished second nationally last year for fewest misplaced bags with an average 2.97 mishandled baggage reports for every 1,000 passengers. For December, Hawaiian finished second with 2.76 mishandled baggage reports.

Hawaiian ranked second nationally in 2008 for fewest oversales at 0.07 percent for every 10,000 passengers, and also finished second in the fourth quarter at 0.04 percent.

The DOT report covers 19 airlines, including nine carriers providing service to Hawaii. The report is available online at http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/reports/atcr09.htm.