Just more than 74 percent of flights departing this year from Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport have left on time, compared to over 79 percent in 2009, ranking the region's travel hub 26th out of 29 major airports across the country, according to statistics released this week by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Both Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Dulles International Airport in the Washington, D.C., area outperformed BWI in on-time departures through the first eight months of the year, with 81 percent and 80 percent, respectively. Eighty-nine percent of flights have left on time at the country's best-performing site, the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the department said.

Baltimore's major airport ranked better for arrivals, with more than 81 percent of flights coming in on time, 17th in the country.

The Delta Air Lines partner Comair flight from BWI to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York arrived on time just 37 percent of the time in 2009, according to the department, while the AirTran Airways flight from Baltimore to Logan International Airport in Boston arrived as scheduled 42 percent of the time last year.

In a deal that would merge the two largest carriers at BWI, Southwest Airlines made a bid in September to acquire AirTran for $1.4 billion.

jtorbati@baltsun.com

twitter.com/jtorbati