The overall on-time arrival rate of America's 15 large airlines fell moderately in August compared with the same time last year, according to data released Thursday by U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

The Transportation Department said the 15 carriers reporting on- time performance recorded an overall on-time arrival rate of 79.1 percent in August, down from the 79.3 percent of August 2011, but up from July's 76.0 percent.

Hawaiian Airlines showed best on-time performance with a 92.8 percent arrival rate, followed by Alaska Airlines (89.3 percent) and Delta Air Lines (83.9 percent). In contrast, United Airlines recorded the lowest on-time arrival rate with 72.2 percent, followed by ExpressJet Airlines (73.7 percent) and JetBlue Airways (74.0 percent), according to the data.

With respect to cancellations, the carriers canceled 1.3 percent of their scheduled domestic flights, compared to the 2.5 percent cancellation rate posted in August 2011 and 1.4 percent in July 2012.

The DOT releases Air Travel Consumer Report each month, which summarizes the general performance of the U.S. airlines industry, including data on on-time arrival, cancellations, chronically delayed flights, the causes of flight delays and consumer complaints.