Complaints against U.S. airlines and ticket agents surged this year in the first and part of the second quarter, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Transportation on Wednesday after a several-month delay.
DOT released consumer service complaint data against airlines and ticket agents for March, April and May, as well as for the first quarter of 2023. DOT most recently released complaint data in August for February 2023.
DOT in March received nearly 7,500 complaints from consumers, up 13 percent from February 2023, and 70 percent from March 2022. Flight problems, which include cancellations, delays and misconnections, comprised the No. 1 category with nearly 2,500 complaints. Refunds followed at 1,510, with baggage at 1,126.
Two-thirds of the March 2023 complaints were against U.S. carriers. Those with the highest number of complaints included Frontier (1,006), American Airlines (787) and Spirit Airlines (665).
For the first quarter through March 31, the agency received nearly 25,000 complaints, which was up 88.4 percent from a year prior.
Beginning in April, complaints started to level off sequentially, but still were up significantly year over year. April complaints were up 32 percent compared with a year prior to more than 6,700, but on a month-over-month basis, they were down more than 10 percent. The total dipped again on a monthly basis in May to nearly 6,500, but were up nearly 49 percent year over year.
The same categories topped the list of complaints in each of April and May, and in the same order: flight problems, refunds and baggage.
U.S. carriers in April received 4,710 complaints, about 70 percent of the total. Carriers in April with the highest number of complaints included Frontier (908), American (775) and United Airlines (667). May's U.S. carrier complaints were 4,425, about 68 percent of the total, with Frontier receiving the most again (854), followed by American (775) and United (705).
DOT is investing in updating its consumer complaint application system and on Sept. 29 was awarded an $8 million grant toward that effort. The agency anticipates that its new system will be operational in January 2024. In the meantime, "given the continued high volume of air travel service complaints concerning airlines and ticket agents," DOT will revise how it processes the consumer complaints received between June 1 through Dec. 31. Instead of reporting complaints, it will report consumer submissions, which include complaints, inquiries and opinions.
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