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We're late and we're angry. No wonder.

The percentage of tardy U.S. flights set a record in the first four months of this year, according to figures released today by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

And passengers in April filed 1,246 complaints about airline service to the DOT, up from 705 filed last April but down slightly from the 1,310 filed in March.

The numbers of flight cancellations and incidents of baggage mishandling in April, though down from March, were also higher than in April 2006. More than six out of every 1,000 passengers filed reports of lost, damaged or delayed bags.

The flight delays this year came as record numbers of travelers took to the skies and as bad weather bedeviled many parts of the country.

From January through April, more than 27% of flights arrived late, the highest percentage for the period since the government began keeping comparable records in 1995, the DOT reported. It was also the second-worst April for delays since 1995.

For the first four months, Oakland had the fewest and Newark had the most late flights among major airports. In April, Salt Lake City had the fewest and Newark had the most late flights.

Delayed flights and other problems are likely to continue into the future, experts say.

The industry's trade group, the Air Transport Assn. said last month that it expects air traffic to set records this summer. More than 200 million passengers are expected to fly June through August, 3% more than flew last summer, the organization said.