This summer is officially turning out to be the worst for U.S. air travel as nearly a third of all domestic flights in June were late, and passenger complaints shot up 43%, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The combination of severe storms, more planes in the air and an overloaded air traffic control system kept many travelers stuck at airports for hours, the Transportation Department said Monday.

With June’s poor showing, the U.S. airline industry posted its worst on-time performance for the first six months of the year since 1995.

But in all the gloom, there was a silver lining for Southern Californians. Despite long lines, more planes at Los Angeles International Airport departed and arrived on time than at most other airports.

“We’re delighted,” said Paul Haney, LAX deputy executive director for airports and security. “On-time flights are a key driver of airport customer satisfaction.”

For the first six months of the year, the airport shot up to fifth from 19th in the rankings of 32 major airports for on-time arrivals as it avoided storms that wreaked havoc on East Coast airports.

Much of the gain had more to do with other airports suffering greater delays than with any improvements at LAX, where the percentage of planes that departed and arrived on time didn’t change. About 81% of planes departed LAX on time during January to June, virtually unchanged from the year-earlier period.

Read the full L.A. Times story

.(registration required)