The number one reason that I fly Southwest.

The government released the air travel statistics for the 2007 calendar year. Southwest ranks third in on-time flights behind Aloha Air and Hawaiian Airlines, two airlines that I don't get to fly very often (eye roll). This puts Southwest as the number one "national" carrier (Southwest is not truly national -- they do not fly to some major airports).

For the record, the number two reason that I fly Southwest is that their pricing policies are realistic -- they show the fares available for all flights an all potential routes on their website, and changing routes later doesn't require "change fees" and last-minute fare gouging. If a cheap fare is still available on the selected flight, you get it. You are simply charged the difference between your previous fare and the new fare, if any. Reasonable. Easy to understand.

Fly Southwest. You'll be glad that you did.