Passengers travelling with an airline in the US have experienced fewer mishaps with their baggage and managed to arrive on time at airports more often during the first half of this year than ever before. According to data published by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics 84 per cent of US domestic fights managed to arrive at destinations within 15 minutes of the time printed on their schedules.

When flights are punctual there is less chance of baggage going astray because of missed connections which is one of the reasons that for the six months ending in June this year fewer than three bags per every 1,000 passengers was reported missing, delayed or damaged.

The better than usual performance by airlines has been put down to a number of factors including better weather conditions. Fewer thunderstorms have meant that more services have been permitted to take off on time which means more have also landed on time. There has also been significantly less snow causing delays at airports this year.

The fragile economy is also partially responsible. Fewer people spending money on seats means that there are fewer flights to clog up the skies over the US.

The fact that more flights are on time is not just good news for passengers. It is estimated that a passenger jet costs $75 per minute to operate, so the less time a plane is in the air or waiting to take off and land is also a boon for the airline.