WASHINGTON - The U.S. Postal Service says it is now beyond the delivery delays experienced during the recent holiday season and winter storms that followed.

The USPS on Thursday it has recovered from a historic peak season and February storms, citing what it said are improvements in its third-party-operated air network and mail and package processing and delivery operations.

It wasn’t uncommon for Christmas cards, catalogs, and packages to be delivered after the holidays were over, followed by issues caused by severe weather in February.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy blamed a three-week impact on the air network due to the February 13-17 winter storm, which crippled regions of the country,

The resulting air network backlog has now been cleared, according to DeJoy.

DeJoy says the postal service continues working on a 10-year plan to address service performance issues.

Representative Tim Ryan and other members of Congress have laid the blame for postal delays at the feet of DeJoy.