Better weather helps airlines post more on-time flight arrivals in March, and Molly the cat (Updated at 5:15 p.m.)

U.S. airlines posted an on-time arrival rate of 77.6 percent in March due to better weather, according to a report released today by the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

That rate was a big improvement from poor performances in January and February due to severe weather across the country. (See chart above.)

Fort Worth-based American Airlines (including US Airways) ranked fifth with 80.5 percent of its flights on-time. Southwest Airlines (including AirTran Airways) had the second worst performance with 72.9 percent of on-time arrivals.

Hawaiian Airlines was No. 1 with 91.6 percent of its flights arriving on-time. ExpressJet Airlines was the worst at 70.9 percent.

No airline reported a tarmac delay of more than three hours for a U.S. flight. (A British Airways flight from Houston to London sat on the tarmac for more than four hours in March.)

Carriers canceled 1.9 percent of their U.S. flights in March, up from the 1.6 percent a year earlier. Their mishandled baggage rate rose to 3.68 per 1,000 passengers in March from a rate of 3.03 a year earlier.

Molly the cat

American also reported a cat death at 4:30 p.m. on March 31.

After unloading American flight No. 1674, which flies between Dallas/Fort Worth and Miami airports, the crew found an unresponsive black-and-white tuxedo cat named Molly and immediately notified a supervisor, according to the airline’s report filed with the BTS. The cat was taken to a local veterinarian and was pronounced dead.

American said it was unable to determine if the incident occurred during flight.

UPDATED AT 5:15 P.M.: “American Airlines is very committed to safely caring for animals that travel with us,” said spokesman Casey Norton. “We safely transport more than 100,000 pets every year: About half fly in the cabin, and the other half are carried in our temperature-controlled, fully pressurized holds under the cabin.”

UPDATED AT 5:15 P.M.: American has online information about traveling with pets and its pet policies.

Two other airlines also reported pet incidents in March.

Sorry, I do not have a photo of the cat to post.