These Airlines Get the Most Complaints
Frontier was joined by Spirit and JetBlue as the most moaned-about airlines, while Alaska and Southwest performed best
Photo: Courtesy of Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Some wallet-friendly airlines may not offer the smoothest journeys, new complaints data from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) reveals, as Frontier is named the most complained about carrier for the second year in a row.
Passenger complaints were up across the industry in 2023. Travelers contacted the DOT with 61,233 complaints about domestic airlines, 29 percent more than in 2022, although passenger numbers rose just 11.
Surge in Complaints
The surge in complaints comes despite cancellations—a major complaints driver in previous years—falling by more than half, from 2.7 percent of scheduled flights in 2022 to 1.2 percent last year, the lowest rate in over a decade, the DOT said.
Delays were also slightly down, with 78.3 percent of flights arriving on time, compared to 76.7 percent in 2022. Seventy percent of delays were weather-related.
Photo: Courtesy of Denver International Airport.
Airlines also lost fewer bags in 2023, according to the consumer advocacy group U.S. PIRG Education Fund, following an analysis of the DOT date.
“Airline travel is getting better overall,” Teresa Murray, PIRG’s consumer watchdog director, said. “But there are still too many horror stories about passengers unexpectedly having to sit in a terminal for hours, getting lousy customer service, or being treated like a seat number instead of a person going on a long-awaited vacation or important work trip.”
Want to lower your risk of an airport nightmare? PIRG also tallied the number of grievances aimed at each major airline, divided those figures by the airline’s passenger numbers, and produced a Hall of Shame of the most moaned-about.
Hall of Shame
At the top is the ultra-low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines, which generates 33 complaints per 100,000 passengers. That’s more than twice the complaints ratio of the next worst offenders, Spirit Airlines, with 15 complaints per 100,000 passengers, and JetBlue, with 13 per 100,000.
Photo: Courtesy of Denver International Airport.
However, two other airlines show that low cost doesn’t necessarily mean poor service. Alaska Airlines and Southwest Airlines are known for their affordable tickets and drew the lower volume of complaints of all airlines: just 2.3 and 3.6 per 100,000 passengers, respectively.
Southwest’s performance is particularly remarkable given that it was the fifth most complained about airline in 2022, following a holiday meltdown that stranded around two million travelers and prompted multiple federal investigations. Southwest began handing out $75 travel vouchers to passengers on canceled or significantly delayed flights this April as part of a settlement with the DOT over those failings.
Photo: Courtesy of Denver International Airport.
Delta performed the best among the Big Three legacy airlines, with 3.6 complaints per 100,000 travelers, besting rivals American (6) and United (7.4).
However, the U.S.’s ultra-low-cost airlines have just made a change that might spare future travelers headaches and lower their complaint figures in 2024.
In May, Frontier and Spirit dropped nearly all change and cancellation fees, aligning their rebooking policies with those of major airlines, which, during the pandemic, terminated fees for changes for all but the cheapest, most restrictive tickets.
“We have been disappointed in our historical complaints,” a spokesperson for Frontier said in a statement. “However, we are pleased to have seen a recent drop in complaints due to better operational reliability, the reopening of our call center and the New Frontier which offers clear, upfront low-cost pricing, and no change fees.”
New Rule and Complaint Submission
A new rule from the Biden administration, requiring airlines to issue automatic refunds to passengers following cancellations, delays, and other hassles, will also bring down travelers’ blood pressure. Previously, passengers had to chase refunds they’re entitled to for disruption, often having to navigate confusing airline websites or phone menus to apply.
Irked by your experience with an airline? You can submit your complaints to the DOT’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection (OACP) through its online complaints and comments form.
