Most Complained-About Airlines

Have an airline gripe? Who doesn’t? Here are the U.S. airlines with the most complaints—and how you can make your voice heard, too.

We’ve all had problems while flying. The airline lost my bag! That gate agent was so rude! I missed my connection! Sometimes we can brush it off as an unfortunate consequence of air-travel convenience. But other times we just can’t let it go. Fortunately, plenty of outlets exist for expressing our frustrations and rectifying problems.

The airline itself is the place to start. After all, it’s the one with the power to refund your money or issue credit, which can go a long way toward assuaging anger.

A disappointing response from an airline, however, can leave you feeling powerless. But Uncle Sam is on your side: Since the mid ’80s, the Department of Transportation has held U.S.-based airlines responsible for customer-service issues. The first step is to file a complaint with the DOT’s Aviation Consumer Protection and Enforcement division.

The ACPE categorizes complaints by type—from oversales and fare misinformation to rude customer service and false advertising—and an analyst investigates each one. Not surprisingly, most passenger issues involve flight problems like cancellations or delays. These aren’t always the airline’s fault, of course. And passengers understand: the DOT says that complaints stemming from these incidents usually have more to do with the airline’s handling of the situation.

So what airline is doing it right? On the DOT’s official report (on which we relied for our list), that would be Southwest—the perennial consumer favorite that registered the lowest number of complaints the past three years running. The airline’s fans continually remark on the friendly customer service, which Kello agrees can defuse a stressful trip. “Smiles,” he says, “don’t cost airlines a penny.”

Top 10 Most Complained-About Airlines:

No. 1: Delta

1.96 per 100,000 passengers

Delta dropped the ball this past year. One DOT official attributes the airline’s most-complained-about status to its merger with Northwest. Regardless, Delta has some work to do: it was the worst offender in nearly all categories, especially flight problems, reservations, and baggage. The airline’s response? Complaints are handled, said a spokesperson, “on a case-by-case basis in the order they are received.”

No. 2: United Airlines

1.34 complaints per 100,000 passengers

The skies aren’t so friendly to passengers when it comes to mishandled luggage or flight cancellations and delays. True, the airline’s record is improving—the complaint rate in 2008 was 1.86—but its planned merger with Continental may cause more snafus, at least in the short term.

No. 3: US Airways

1.31 complaints per 100,000 passengers

Here’s the good news: in 2008, US Airways came in dead last for service with a rate of 2.01 complaints (and a whopping 3.16 in ’07), so clearly the airline has focused on improving its score. But alas, here’s the bad news: mistakes made with reservations, ticketing, and boarding remain the airline’s Achilles’ heel.

No. 4: Northwest Airlines

1.21 complaints per 100,000 passengers

Northwest had a spectacular fall from grace in 2009, dropping a full eight spots to its unfortunate current ranking. What happened? The Delta merger—involving an admittedly complicated integration of ticketing and gates—was the likely culprit.

No. 5: American Airlines

1.07 complaints per 100,000 passengers

Only Southwest carries more passengers, but that airline’s low complaint rate shows that size shouldn’t matter. Still, American’s year-over-year score has improved, perhaps with the support of what an airline spokesperson calls “a proactive customer outreach program should something unique occur with a specific flight.”

No. 6: Comair

1.03 complaints per 100,000 passengers

The smallest airline on the list improved one spot, but let’s face it: No. 6 is still pretty bad. The large majority of the service complaints were about flight problems. To make matters worse, Comair had the worst on-time performance of any U.S. airline in 2009.

No. 7: Continental Airlines

1.00 complaints per 100,000 passengers

In the past year, Continental improved enough to move up one spot in the ratings. But be warned: when it combines with United to create the world’s largest airline, the logistics of integration could cause some problems.

No. 8: AirTran

0.97 complaints per 100,000 passengers

AirTran has maintained its dubious No. 8 ranking two years in a row, although it received fewer service complaints in 2009. Flight cancellations and delays were its major problems, about which a DOT official says, “Often low-cost carriers will not rearrange flights on another airline because they don’t have a full-service contract of carriage.”

No. 9: Frontier Airlines

0.92 complaints per 100,000 passengers

In 2008, the sister carrier to Midwest Airlines was one of America’s least-complained-about airlines, according to the DOT. But Frontier stumbled this past year, moving into the most-complained-about category for the first time in three years.

No. 10: JetBlue Airways

0.85 complaints per 100,000 passengers

The most recent J. D. Powers survey awarded JetBlue the highest rating of overall customer satisfaction for low-cost carriers. True, the DOT’s stats don’t back that up, but JetBlue is still one of the country’s 10 least-complained-about airlines.

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