Airline Consumer Complaints Down From Previous Year

WASHINGTON – Airline consumer complaints filed with DOT's Aviation Consumer Protection Division during the first six months of this year were down 12.2 percent from the first six months of 2015, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Air Travel Consumer Report released today.

From January to June 2016, the Department received 8,376 consumer complaints, down from the total of 9,542 received during the first six months of 2015. In June 2016, the Department received 1,492 complaints about airline service from consumers, down 27.1 percent from the total of 2,048 filed in June 2015, but up 31.6 percent from the 1,134 received in May 2016.

The reporting carriers canceled 1.0 percent of their scheduled domestic flights in June 2016, an improvement over the 1.8 percent cancellation rate posted in June 2015, but up from the 0.5 percent rate in May 2016.

The reporting carriers posted an on-time arrival rate of 78.0 percent in June 2016, up from the 74.8 percent on-time rate in June 2015, but down from the 83.4 percent mark in May 2016.

The consumer report also includes data on tarmac delays, chronically delayed flights, and the causes of flight delays filed with the Department's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) by the reporting carriers. The report also includes statistics on mishandled baggage reports filed by consumers with the reporting carriers, data on oversales, and information about the total number of animals that died, were injured, or were lost during air transport in June, as filed by the air carriers with the Aviation Consumer Protection Division.

Consumers may file air travel service complaints on the web at www.transportation.gov/airconsumer. This news release is available at https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/ https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/airline-consumer-complaints-down-previous-year-0. The full consumer report is available at www.transportation.gov/individuals/air-consumer/air-travel-consumer-reports. Detailed information on flight delays is available at www.bts.gov.

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