On Time

The nation's largest airlines posted a record on-time arrival rate of 88.6% in November, the U.S. Department of Transportation said Thursday. During the same month, the airlines also set a record for the lowest rate of mishandled baggage in a single month since the data were first collected in September 1987. The November on-time rate for the country's 19 largest carriers compared with a 83.3% rate for November 2008 and a 77.3% rate for October 2009, according to the agency.

Dear Liz: I am trying to help my retired parents refinance their home. Currently they are paying over 8% interest. (This loan should be illegal.) The problem is their credit score, which is around 536. They had a tax lien in 2004 (it has been paid off for over four years) and some minor credit card issues. The total card debt is less than $1,000. I see several bad footnotes on these cards. Some of the cards have a balance of less than $100. What is the best and fastest way to help them get the mortgage they deserve?

U.S. airlines' on-time arrival rate rose in February as carriers experienced fewer glitches within their own operations, the Transportation Department reported. About 68.6% of flights arrived within 15 minutes of the scheduled time, up from 67.3% in the same month last year. Delays attributed to the carriers' operations fell to 7.1% of the total, from 8.2% a year earlier. The two biggest causes of delays were late-arriving planes, at 9.7%, and national aviation system delays, at 9.4%, the government said.

On Tuesday night, Steve Nash overcame Mark Jackson on the NBA's all-time assist list, dishing a pass to Jodie Meeks for a dunk with 2 minutes 13 seconds left in the first half as the Lakers battled the Houston Rockets at Staples Center. Nash entered the game with 10,330 career assists, just four behind Jackson's 10,334.  His pass to Meeks moved Nash to 10,335. John Stockton tops the list at 15,806, and Jason Kidd is second with 12,091. The Staples Center crowd gave Nash a standing ovation as his accomplishment was trumpeted by public-address announcer Lawrence Tanter.

Re "Et tu, JetBlue?" editorial, March 16 The biggest problem with American business is Wall Street. Legions of analysts who produce nothing freak out over JetBlue's first quarterly loss, and all of a sudden JetBlue's business model is seen as risky. JetBlue's on-time performance fell victim to weather conditions that no one could have avoided. Fuel prices are high and JetBlue is losing money, but it will get through this and thrive. Every time I fly JetBlue, the planes are full.

Hooray for Don Shirley's "Why Don't Plays Start on Time? Because of You" (Aug. 10). It is more than my pet peeve to arrive on time, having prepared for possible traffic delays and other "emergencies" only to have the curtain delayed as much as 15 minutes beyond scheduled performances. If an 8 p.m. curtain-rising means 8:03, 8:10 or even 8:15 then say so and change the ads and promotion to reflect the actual performance time. On-time productions separate the professionals from the amateurs.

Re "MTA is trying to shed some wait," June 27 Before anyone issues a knee-jerk complaint about Metro buses being on time less than 70% of the time, ask yourself this: If you attempted to drive anywhere across L.A. and arrive within a predetermined five-minute window, could you do it better than 70% of the time? Not likely. How would my timeliness be if I had to stop my vehicle, rearrange a row of front seats, activate wheelchair lifts and anchors, and then repeat the process when each disabled rider gets off?

Retail sales rise, topping expectations Retail sales posted a better-than-expected increase in January, a welcome development that could mean stronger economic growth in coming months. The Commerce Department said sales last month increased by 0.5% over December, the best showing since November and better than the 0.3% increase economists had expected. Excluding autos, sales posted a 0.6% rise, also better than expected. Strength came from a surge at general merchandise stores, a category that includes big national chains.

ON A MILD SUNDAY last summer, a string of "popping sounds" drifted through the lazy night air of Beverly Hills around 10 o'clock. "I didn't think anything of it," said Tom Zlotow, a neighbor who soon learned that the noises he'd heard from the house right behind his were echoes of the most sensational crime in the history of Beverly Hills. "I didn't even think it could be gunfire, especially around here."

The Great Peace March was on the road again Friday. About 340 marchers set out in high spirits from Barstow at 6:30 a.m., leaving behind their campsite next to an auto junkyard where they had been camped since March 16, and walking to Yermo, a small desert community, 17 miles away. The group, what is left of 1,400 people who set out from Los Angeles City Hall on March 1 on a walk to Washington for global nuclear disarmament, is still strapped by poor finances and sketchy supplies.

California-based Virgin America ranked highest among the nation's top 15 carriers in a study that looked at on-time performance, customer complaints and lost bag rates, among other factors. The study, known as the Airline Quality Rating report, also found that airline performance improved in 2013 over the previous year. The ratings report was produced by researchers at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Wichita State University and was based on data collected by the U.S.

Prime-time television dramas are less smoke friendly than they were in the 1950s. According to a study published online in the journal Tobacco Control on Thursday, there has been a dramatic decline in visibility of tobacco products on prime-time U.S. broadcast television. Researchers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania determined this drop in portrayals of smoking and tobacco use in prime-time dramas mirrored the national decline in consumption.

BEIJING -- As the United States' first Chinese American ambassador to China, Gary Locke made an impression on many ordinary people here with his down-to-earth ways - carrying his own backpack, paying for his Starbucks with a coupon and flying economy class. His man-of-the-people demeanor, honed as two-term governor of Washington state, provided a sharp contrast to the often-remote and sometimes corrupt ways of the Chinese ruling class. Many netizens approved of his style, but a number of media organs affiliated with the Communist Party were discomfited by the unassuming envoy.

The first months of the year are, by consensus, the bleakest of cinematic times. But not so much if, like me, you are a lover of documentaries, someone who revels in the pleasures of the nonfiction film. Proofs of the remarkable strength of documentaries in this day and age are manifold right around now. If you were fortunate enough to go to last month's Sundance, for instance, a prime nonfiction showcase that this year screened some 40 documentaries from around the world, you got a peek at the best of what 2014 will offer.

Magic Johnson apparently isn't the only one who thinks the Lakers are unwatchable. The Lakers' ratings on Time Warner Cable SportsNet declined 37.5% over the team's first 40 games versus the same period last season, according to Nielsen ratings in the Los Angeles market. Lakers games averaged a 2.72 rating over those games, down from a 4.35 last season, TWC's first as the team's broadcast partner. "I wouldn't be overly concerned about it, but I certainly would keep an eye on it," said David Carter, executive director of the USC Sports Business Institute.

Airline delays and cancellations have dropped significantly in the last few years. At least that's what federal statistics show. But the numbers may not be telling us the whole story. That is one of the conclusions in a new report by the office of inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation, which recommends new ways of calculating airline delays. The Department of Transportation's data show that airline delays fell 33% from 2000 to 2012, while flight cancellations dropped 56% at the nation's largest airports.

Can you say "yanked?" That is what Nike did this week to one of its commercials featuring NBA basketball star David Robinson that parodies "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood." In the TV spot for the company's Force line of basketball shoes, Robinson ties his shoes, then looks at the camera and asks: "Can you say, 'Kick some butt?' " The commercial premiered on CBS during the World Series.

Playing private detective for a day, state Sen. Tom Hayden's staff captured Gov. Pete Wilson's director of fish and game and one of his top deputies on videotape as they fished during business hours last week with a lawyer who is trying to loosen the state's endangered species protection laws.

CAIRO - To many of those who took part in Egypt's 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak, the death of Bassem Mohsen epitomizes the revolution's dashed hopes. Mohsen, 25, was shot in the head last week during an antigovernment protest in his native city of Suez. On Sunday, his death was confirmed. On Monday, friends and family gathered outside the hospital where his body lay, waiting for official permission for an autopsy. The young activist was a veteran of protests against not only Mubarak, but also the military administration that followed, the Islamist rule of Mohamed Morsi and the current authoritarian-minded interim government.

Landon Donovan was a near-unanimous choice to U.S. Soccer's all-time First XI, chosen by a panel of former players, administrators and journalists. Donovan, the national team's all-time leader in goals and assists, was named on 52 of the 57 ballots. He was paired at midfield on the all-star team with Clint Dempsey, the only other current national team player chosen. Former Galaxy standout Cobi Jones, the national team's all-time leader in appearances, finished sixth in the balloting at midfield.