United Airlines recently posted a backbreaking quarterly financial loss, the result of fierce economic headwinds, skittish consumers and sour fuel contracts.

But buried beneath the gloomy financial picture is a promising - though still fledgling - trend.

The carrier has made a solid turnaround over the past few months in on-time performance and, to a lesser degree, mishandled-baggage rates.

United ranked fourth in on-time arrivals during the last two months of 2008, beating out more than a dozen other carriers, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. It even managed to outperform Southwest Airlines and Frontier Airlines - its two main competitors in Denver - in December, a feat that seemed impossible last summer.

"It's definitely something that stands out for United," said Henry Harteveldt, a travel analyst at Forrester Research in San Francisco. "It's a promising sign. So far this year, I have not been on any United flight that's been delayed because of something in their control."

The government has not released data for January, but it seems that United has indeed kept up its strong performance. The airline recently revealed that it expects to rank highly against its larger peers in on-time arrival performance during the month, saying that about eight out of every 10 of its flights arrived on time in January. United's customer service survey for the month also was stronger than it's ever been.

The on-time performance was good enough to trigger a $100 payout to many of its employees under a new incentive plan.

It's an unusual spot for United, which has long ranked near the bottom of the industry for on-time flights. United, for instance, finished 17th for all of 2008 despite its surge at the end of the year.

The carrier credits its improvement to several factors, including an increased focus on "the basics" of running an airline.

"We've rededicated ourselves to what we think are the basic fundamentals in the business that are the most important to our customers, and frankly, to our employees," said John Tague, United's chief operating officer. "We are extremely focused, and our employees are doing a great job showing up and driving results day in and day out."

As part of its renewed focus, United has shifted schedules to allow extra time between flights, and it has more spare jets that can be used when aircraft in its main fleet experience unexpected mechanical problems.

United, like most airlines, also is flying fewer planes. The carrier cut capacity dramatically last year and is planning to eliminate more flights in coming months. That has helped ease congestion, giving it more wiggle room to handle problems that might lead to delays.

Additionally, the carrier consolidated flight control operations, and it implemented the new incentive plan to reward employees for strong on-time numbers.

These moves have trickled down to other areas of United's business, helping the carrier lower its mishandled-bag rate.

"United realized that if you don't have reliable and on-time planes, if people are arriving without their bags, if you don't address the fundamentals of an airline, you're in trouble," Harteveldt said. "I give them credit for taking the steps necessary to create a schedule that the airline actually can fly."

Still, there is plenty of work to do.

It remains to be seen if United - the largest airline in Denver - can ride the momentum going forward.

The industry as a whole also has improved its overall performance, so United still ranks at the bottom of the pack in some performance categories such as customer complaints.

But some observers say United was doing a fine job even before the recent improvements, despite what the numbers show.

"They've been doing things better than they were, but United has never been a sloppy operation," said Evergreen-based aviation consultant Mike Boyd. "This should not mask the fact that, I think, they've always been relatively good operationally."

GETTING THERE ON TIME

United improved its on-time arrival performance dramatically at the end of last year.

Industry rank out of 19 airlines*

* December: Fourth

* November: Fourth

* October: 10th

* September: 18th

* August: 15th

* July: 17th

* June: 18th

* May: 18th

* April: 18th

* March: 9th

* February: 14th

* January: 20th

*20 airlines were included in the data in January and February.

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