United Airlines is improving its operations, reporting an improved on-time arrival rate during the month of April. This is according to a report from OAG, a data company.

Here are more details, courtesy of the Chicago Business Journal:

“United has struggled for some while to get near the top of the leader board in the hotly-contested on-time arrivals race. But in April, United was — hold on to your boarding passes! — a solid No. 2 in the rankings among the nation’s four largest domestic carriers. United got 83 percent of its flights to the gate on time in April, a jump of 4.5 percentage points from its fourth-place finish in March, with a 78.5 percent on-time arrival result. The carrier has repeatedly noted it is relentlessly focused on improving on-time performance, and the results are starting to show. A flight is deemed on-time if it arrives at the gate within 14 minutes of its scheduled arrival time.

April also was a very good month for another also-ran, American Airlines (NASDAQ: AAL), the world’s largest airline. American got 82.2 percent of its flights to the gate on time in April, also an improvement over its 80.0 percent showing in March. For both No. 3 American and No. 2 United, their respective regional carrier operations have tended to drag down each airline’s overall on-time arrival performance in the past. But the April results suggest the regional numbers are getting better.”

Bottom Line

This is all part of the new strategy for United Airlines to improve customer service and attract additional customers. The company also has a new CEO, Oscar Munoz, who used to run CSX, a railroad company.