These airways had probably the most and least passenger complaints in 2024

Flying could be a trouble even underneath the very best of circumstances. When journeys are marred by delays, cancellations and mishandled baggage, air journey can turn out to be a nightmare. 

In 2024, clients lodged a report 66,675 complaints in opposition to U.S. airways, in accordance with a brand new report from the U.S. PIRG Training Fund, a client advocacy group, primarily based on knowledge from the U.S. Division of Transportation. Passenger complaints have surged for the reason that pandemic, rising yearly since 2021, in accordance with PIRG. 

“Once you file a grievance, the DOT asks for those who talked to airline, so it isn’t just like the DOT grievance line is your first cease,” U.S. PIRG client watchdog director Teresa Murray advised CBS MoneyWatch. “When folks attempt to get their a refund and the airline hasn’t performed it, that is when folks file complaints.” 

For instance, some clients sought refunds they have been due associated to flight cancellations or delays, whereas others sought reimbursement they have been owed for misplaced or broken piece of bags. Airways now face added stress underneath new guidelines adopted in 2024 that require them to offer automated refunds to clients when their flights are canceled or considerably delayed.

Pandemic impacft 

Previous to 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic erupted within the U.S., annual complaints in opposition to all airways hovered beneath 20,000. That yr, they jumped to greater than 102,000 throughout what was a catastrophic interval for air carriers, given journey restrictions and plummeting demand for flying. Airways struggled to ramp capability again up in 2021 and 2022, leading to loads of cancellations and delays.

On the prime 10 U.S. airways, cancellations rose from 1.28% of flights in 2023 to 1.36% final yr, leading to a complete of 102,908 canceled flights in 2024, in accordance with the report. Delays additionally worsened, with 78.1% of flights arriving on time final yr, down from 78.3% in 2023. In whole, roughly 1.7 million flights have been both delayed or canceled in 2024.

Nationwide air site visitors controller shortages might result in extra snarls in schedules for the rest of 2025, PIRG mentioned. 

One relative shiny spot within the report: Airways mishandled fewer baggage and wheelchairs in 2024 in comparison with the earlier yr. Whereas that confirmed some modest enchancment, 2.7 million baggage have been nonetheless misplaced or broken, as have been 11,357 wheelchairs and scooters. 

The service with the very best price of complaints per 100,000 passengers: Frontier Airways, which had the worst cancellation report, worst report for on-time arrivals and worst report for involuntary bumping, PIRG discovered. It ranked second-worst for the share of wheelchairs that it mishandled. 

“That is loads of worsts,” Murray mentioned. 

These have been the best- and worst-performing airways final yr by way of passenger complaints, flight cancellations and delays, and different metrics, in accordance with PIRG.

Total complaints

Finest airways

1. Southwest (1.5 grievance per 100,000 passengers) 
2. Alaska (2.6 per 100,000 passengers) 
3. Hawaiian (3.8 per 100,000 passengers)

Worst airways

1. Frontier (23.3 complaints per 100,000 passengers)
2. Spirit (12.8 per 100,000 passengers) 
3. JetBlue (10.4 per 100,000 passengers)

Flight cancellations

Finest airways

1. Southwest (0.83% of flights canceled)
2. Hawaiian (1.05% canceled)
3. Delta (1.09% canceled)

Worst airways

1. Frontier (2.32% of flights canceled)
2. Spirit (1.91% canceled)
3. United (1.74% canceled)

Delays

Finest airways

1. Hawaiian (16.42% of flights delayed)
2. Delta (17.98% delayed)
3. United (20.86% delayed)

Worst airways

1. Frontier (30.5% of flights delayed)
2. JetBlue (26.94% delayed)
3. Spirit (25.52% delayed)

Mishandled baggage

Finest airways

1. Allegiant (0.2%)
2. JetBlue (0.35%)
3. Frontier (0.4%)

Worst airways

1. American (0.79%)
2. United (0.66%)
3. Alaska (0.58%)

Mishandled wheelchairs

Finest airways

1. Delta (0.63%) 
2. Allegiant (0.75%)
3. United (0.97%)

Worst airways

1. Spirit (2.07%)
2. Frontier (1.76%)
3. American (1.63%)

Involuntary bumping

Finest airways

1. Allegiant (0 per 10,000 passengers)
2. Delta (0 per 10,000 passengers)
3. United (0.03 per 10,000 passengers)

Worst airways

1. Frontier (2.25 per 10,000 passengers)
2. American (0.67 per 10,000 passengers)
3. Spirit (0.48 per 10,000 passengers)