Fewer flights mean better service; flying dos and don'ts.(Special Travel Update)

Airport security checkpoints have longer lines these days, but overall airline service has improved dramatically since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The main reason: fewer flights, not fewer passengers on flights, according to our sister publication, Consumer Reports Travel Letter, which compared federal airline-performance data in the two months following the attacks with data from the previous four years. We have updated that report to include data through December (the most recent available). The conclusions are the same: Airport congestion led to many performance problems in recent years, and in large part, the airlines themselves can correct those problems.

A CLOSER LOOK

Airline service improved in all four service categories monitored by the Department of Transportation. More flights arrived on time, fewer flights were canceled, fewer bags were lost, and fewer consumer complaints were filed. (Ticket refunds topped the list of consumer complaints, likely the result of skittish travelers. In past years, passengers complained mainly about flight problems and customer service.) In short, it was the industry's best performance in years.

Delta and Southwest were tops, in large part because of on-time flight performance. Alaska Airlines also performed well because of relatively few complaints.

The performance improvements occurred after most major carriers cut flights by about 20 percent. For example, there were 27 fewer nonstop flights between Chicago and New York in January than a year ago.

As a result, on-time arrivals improved at 28 of the 29 busiest domestic airports between December 2001 and a year earlier (the exception: San Francisco International). At LaGuardia Airport in New York, for example, on-time ...