Flying can be a hassle even under the best of circumstances. When trips are marred by delays, cancellations and mishandled luggage, air travel can become a nightmare.
In 2024, customers lodged a record 66,675 complaints against U.S. airlines, according to a new report from the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, a consumer advocacy group, based on data from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Passenger complaints have surged since the pandemic, rising every year since 2021, according to PIRG.
“When you file a complaint, the DOT asks if you talked to airline, so it’s not like the DOT complaint line is your first stop,” U.S. PIRG consumer watchdog director Teresa Murray told CBS MoneyWatch. “When people try to get their money back and the airline hasn’t done it, that’s when people file complaints.”
For example, some customers sought refunds they were due related to flight cancellations or delays, while others sought reimbursement they were owed for lost or damaged piece of luggage. Airlines now face added pressure under new rules adopted in 2024 that require them to provide automatic refunds to customers when their flights are canceled or significantly delayed.
Pandemic impacft
Prior to 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic erupted in the U.S., annual complaints against all airlines hovered below 20,000. That year, they jumped to more than 102,000 during what was a catastrophic period for air carriers, given travel restrictions and plummeting demand for flying. Airlines struggled to ramp capacity back up in 2021 and 2022, resulting in plenty of cancellations and delays.
At the top 10 U.S. airlines, cancellations rose from 1.28% of flights in 2023 to 1.36% last year, resulting in a total of 102,908 canceled flights in 2024, according to the report. Delays also worsened, with 78.1% of flights arriving on time last year, down from 78.3% in 2023. In total, roughly 1.7 million flights were either delayed or canceled in 2024.
Nationwide air traffic controller shortages could lead to more snarls in schedules for the remainder of 2025, PIRG said.
One relative bright spot in the report: Airlines mishandled fewer bags and wheelchairs in 2024 compared to the previous year. While that showed some modest improvement, 2.7 million bags were still lost or damaged, as were 11,357 wheelchairs and scooters.
The carrier with the highest rate of complaints per 100,000 passengers: Frontier Airlines, which had the worst cancellation record, worst record for on-time arrivals and worst record for involuntary bumping, PIRG found. It ranked second-worst for the share of wheelchairs that it mishandled.
“That’s a lot of worsts,” Murray said.
These were the best- and worst-performing airlines last year in terms of passenger complaints, flight cancellations and delays, and other metrics, according to PIRG.
Overall complaints
Best airlines
Southwest (1.5 complaint per 100,000 passengers) Alaska (2.6 per 100,000 passengers) Hawaiian (3.8 per 100,000 passengers)
Worst airlines
Frontier (23.3 complaints per 100,000 passengers)Spirit (12.8 per 100,000 passengers) JetBlue (10.4 per 100,000 passengers)
Flight cancellations
Best airlines
Southwest (0.83% of flights canceled)Hawaiian (1.05% canceled)Delta (1.09% canceled)
Worst airlines
Frontier (2.32% of flights canceled)Spirit (1.91% canceled)United (1.74% canceled)
Delays
Best airlines
Hawaiian (16.42% of flights delayed)Delta (17.98% delayed)United (20.86% delayed)
Worst airlines
Frontier (30.5% of flights delayed)JetBlue (26.94% delayed)Spirit (25.52% delayed)
Mishandled bags
Best airlines
Allegiant (0.2%)JetBlue (0.35%)Frontier (0.4%)
Worst airlines
American (0.79%)United (0.66%)Alaska (0.58%)
Mishandled wheelchairs
Best airlines
Delta (0.63%) Allegiant (0.75%)United (0.97%)
Worst airlines
Spirit (2.07%)Frontier (1.76%)American (1.63%)
Involuntary bumping
Best airlines
Allegiant (0 per 10,000 passengers)Delta (0 per 10,000 passengers)United (0.03 per 10,000 passengers)
Worst airlines
Frontier (2.25 per 10,000 passengers)American (0.67 per 10,000 passengers)
Spirit (0.48 per 10,000 passengers)
