True.... but shareholders also care about *future* profitability. And to make predictions like that it's often useful to look at how competently a company is being run in other ways that might not be affecting the bottom line today because it shows how well they'll be able to handle operations in the future.

So sure if on-time performance has *no* affect on profitability at all then nobody's going to care but that's patently untrue. Delays are expensive when customers need to be reaccomodated, employees get paid overtime, and customers leave for other competitors. It may be true that *today* the cost is outweighed by other income but a company that is able to operate more smoothly today is one that will be more profitable in the long run when the weather isn't so positive.