Year-over-year cancellation rate for U.S. air carriers in August increased for the second consecutive month, as did the number of passenger complaints, according to the latest U.S. Department of Transportation Air Travel Consumer Report.
The August cancellation rate was 2 percent, double the 1 percent from a year prior. However, the rate was lower than the 2.8 percent reported in July 2026.
U.S. carriers in August operated about 659,600 flights, slightly more than the 659,300 operated in August 2025. The figure was down from the 678,300 flights operated in July 2026.
Domestic carriers with the lowest August cancellation rates were Allegiant Air (0.4 percent), Southwest Airlines (0.8 percent) and Alaska Airlines network (1.5 percent). Networks include branded codeshare partners.
The U.S. carriers with the highest August cancellation rates were JetBlue (6.2 percent), Frontier Airlines (3.0 percent) and American Airlines network (2.7 percent).
Domestic airlines in August handled about 39.5 million bags for a mishandled baggage rate of 0.50 percent, down from the 0.55 reported in each August 2025 and July 2026.
The number of complaints in August increased to 8,908 from 8,544 reported in July. About 68 percent were for U.S. carriers, nearly 27 percent were for foreign carriers and just more than 5 percent were for travel agencies. The subcategories with the most complaints were refunds (2,478), flight schedule (1,971) and baggage (1,274).
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