The October rate of U.S. flight cancellations declined to 0.6 percent compared with the 1 percent rate reported in October 2024, the fourth month in a row the rate dropped compared to its year-prior statistic, according to the latest U.S. Department of Transportation Air Travel Consumer Report.
The October 2025 cancellation rate, however, was slightly higher than the 0.5 percent cancellation rate reported in September 2025.
U.S. carriers in October operated about 664,600 flights, up about 2 percent from a year prior, and up from the 618,500 operated in September 2025.
The U.S. carriers with the lowest cancellation rates in October were Allegiant Air (0 percent), United Airlines network (0.2 percent) and Southwest Airlines (0.3 percent). Networks include branded codeshare partners.
Those carriers with the highest cancellation rates for the month were Alaska Airlines network (1.8 percent), Spirit Airlines (1.1 percent) and JetBlue (1 percent).
In October, U.S. carriers handled more than 38.7 million bags and had a mishandled baggage rate of 0.39 percent, higher than the 0.38 percent reported in October 2024 but lower than the 0.40 percent reported in September 2025.
DOT continues to revamp its complaints data, and in August began to include a "customer experience report" from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration. In October, TSA received 11,771 complaints via phone or email, which came to 15.3 complaints per 100,000 passengers, lower than the 21.4 complaints per 100,000 passengers reported in September.
Additional consumer complaint data for August through December 2025 will be released in early 2026, according to DOT.
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