Mesa Air Group Inc. said yesterday its interisland carrier go! carried 58,179 passengers last month, a nearly 11 percent increase from last year, despite the tourism slowdown.

Go!'s load factor, or the percentage of its seats filled, was down slightly to 65 percent from nearly 67 percent. About 91 percent of its flights were on time.

The Phoenix-based carrier added extra capacity after the closure of Aloha Airlines.

Mesa Chairman and Chief Executive Jonathan Ornstein said the company is pleased to have had a strong September, given the economic backdrop.

Also, Hawaiian Airlines said it finished August as the nation's top-ranked carrier for on-time performance and baggage handling, according to the monthly Air Travel Consumer Report issued yesterday by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

During August, the DOT reported that 92.3 percent of Hawaiian's flights arrived as scheduled, topping the industry average by nearly 14 percentage points. To meet DOT standards, a flight must arrive within 15 minutes of schedule to be considered on time.

Hawaiian also was the industry's top carrier for fewest misplaced bags in August. The carrier averaged an industry-low 2.89 mishandled baggage reports for every 1,000 passengers. The DOT report covers 19 airlines.