United Airlines plans to change the way it schedules flights and to use new technology to tackle the delays and cancellations that have hurt its competitiveness, company executives told Reuters. The new initiatives aim to narrow the gap in performance between United Continental Holdings Inc (UAL.N) and Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL.N), which has the best on-time record of U.S. airlines. United plans in January to alter its schedules to resemble the way rivals circulate planes through their networks, Vice President of Network Operations Tracy Lee told Reuters.