Major US airlines racked up more than 7.4 million flights in 2007, a record high, with late arrivals also hitting their peak at 1.8 million, the US government said on Tuesday.
The biggest airlines packed their schedules at major airports, squeezing in more passengers at busy times in a bid to maximize revenues from premium paying business passengers. There were more late arrivals than in any year since the US Transportation Department began keeping records in 1995, and the percent of on-time arrivals, 73.4, was the second-worst yearly performance. The worst was 72.5 percent in 2000. On-time performance was highest, over 80 percent, during the years early in the decade when airlines scaled back operations to cope with the industry's severe financial downturn.
Flight delays have grown each year since 2004 when the number of flights annually topped 7 million for the first time. Atlanta Hartsfield Airport, the main hub for Delta Air Lines, was the busiest US airport for flights by major airlines with more than 827,600. Chicago O'Hare, home of United Airlines, was second at 751,500. Dallas/Ft Worth, home to American Airlines was third at just under 600,000. 
