Frontier, Spirit, JetBlue rank worst in 2023 as airline complaints hit new record

Alaska, Southwest, Delta rank best; cancellations dropped in 2023 but delays increased

WASHINGTON – Complaints against U.S. airlines increased by nearly 29% and hit a new record in 2023, even though the number of passengers increased only 11% compared with 2022, according to The Plane Truth 2024, a new report by U.S. PIRG Education Fund. 

Based on our analysis of data released by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) on Friday, the report finds that:

• Frontier Airlines had the worst complaints-to-passengers ratio; it was more than twice as high as the next airline, Spirit. The third worst was JetBlue.
• Alaska had the best complaints-to-passengers ratio, followed by Southwest and Delta.
• The middle of the pack among the 10 largest airlines were American, Allegiant, Hawaiian and United.
• Only three airlines had better complaints ratios last year than in 2022: Alaska, Southwest and Allegiant.
• The volume of complaints against U.S. airlines is estimated at 61,233. The DOT didn’t release exact numbers but said complaints were 90.5% of all submissions, with other categories including opinions, compliments and information requests. The actual number of complaints against U.S. airlines in 2022 was 47,591.
• One of the biggest problems and reasons for complaints in years past – cancellations – dropped in half compared with 2022. Delays, however, got worse compared with 2022. Incidents of lost or damaged bags and wheelchairs improved slightly. 

DOT workers struggled to keep up with the avalanche of complaints throughout 2023, even with help from artificial intelligence, causing a five-month delay in releasing the data.

“This report makes it clear that airlines need to do much more to quell the rage among travelers. Passengers are using their voice, and it’s working. Congress and the DOT are paying attention to passenger complaints, as shown by new laws and regulations approved in the last three months,” said Teresa Murray, Consumer Watchdog Director at U.S. PIRG Education Fund and author of the report.

“Airline travel is getting better overall,” Murray said, “but there are still too many horror stories about passengers unexpectedly having to sit in a terminal for hours, getting lousy information from customer service or being treated like a seat number instead of  a person going on a long-awaited vacation or important work trip.” 

“We look forward to the days when we are once again excited to fly rather than dreading it.”