The DOT Received A Single Compliment About Air Travel In June

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The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) has revealed its June 2021 Air Consumer Travel Report. Unsurprisingly, complaints against airlines remained at high levels. The DOT received only one positive compliment in the month for an unspecified US airline.

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US consumer complaints were high in June, but the industry notched a single compliment in the DOT report. Photo: Getty Images

Airlines received a single compliment

First noted at CNBC, the DOT released its Air Travel Consumer Report detailing the month of June. During the month, the department received a total of one compliment for a US airline. This includes the major US airlines and regional affiliates like SkyWest or Mesa.

This is not a rare occurrence in the airline world. For example, in June 2019, US airlines similarly received only one compliment. In June 2018, that number was a dismal zero compliments.

Looking a little more recent during the crisis, in June 2020, US airlines also received zero compliments. However, an unnamed foreign airline received a single compliment in the month.

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Complaints were far lower than June 2021 than June 2020, even though there was a massive increase in the number of passengers flying. Photo: Getty Images

From January through June, US airlines received four compliments, with one compliment for a foreign airline. In 2020, US airlines received only two compliments from the same time period, and foreign airlines also received two compliments. In the same time from 2019, the DOT recorded six compliments, split between five for US airlines and one for a foreign carrier. In 2018, from January through June, the DOT received six compliments for US airlines.

Complaints were high

Between US airlines, foreign airlines, travel agents, and tour operators, the DOT recorded a whopping 4,176 complaints. Though not as high as the 15,961 complaints received in June 2020, this is still far higher than the 1,586 complaints in June 2019 and 1,477 in June 2018.

Over half of the complaints were for refunds, with the DOT having received 2,318 refund complaints. The second-highest complaint category was flight problems, with 507 complaints. This was broken down into 200 cancellation-related complaints, 153 delay complaints, and 72 misconnection complaints.

Here are the overall rankings of complaints against major US airlines (excluding regional carriers) in all categories for June 2021:

  1. American Airlines: 421
  2. United Airlines: 303
  3. JetBlue: 205
  4. Southwest Airlines: 150
  5. Spirit Airlines: 123
  6. Delta Air Lines: 106
  7. Frontier Airlines: 84
  8. Allegiant Air: 63
  9. Alaska Airlines: 42
  10. Hawaiian Airlines: 20
  11. Sun Country: 13
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American Airlines and United Airlines led the DOT charts in terms of complaints. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

American Airlines‘ highest category of complaints was flight problems, with 135 complaints, followed by 101 complaints about refunds. Meanwhile, in second place, United Airlines received 123 complaints about refunds, its highest category, followed by 52 complaints about fares.

Foreign airlines also saw a relatively large number of complaints. Air India saw a whopping 215 complaints, with 199 complaints about refunds. In second place came TAP Air Portugal, with 2018 complaints, of which 179 were regarding refunds.

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Air India received the most complaints for a foreign airline in June’s DOT report. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

Complaints will continue

One of the struggles for airlines at the moment is getting the right balance between future schedules and matching bookings. As a result, many passengers with bookings through the rest of the year find their flights impacted.

The DOT mandates refunds for passengers if an airline cancels their flight and the passenger chooses not to accept an alternate travel accommodation. If there is a schedule change or significant delay, passengers are also owed a refund, though the DOT has not defined what a “significant delay” is.

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Spirit may end up receiving the brunt of consumer complaints in July and August after it suffered an operational meltdown. Photo: Getty Images

Passengers are also owed refunds over class of service changes. So, for example, if the airline downgrades a passenger from a paid first class ticket to an economy class seat involuntarily, including operational disruptions,

Some airlines have tried different tactics to avoid needing to give out refunds. While the DOT does not preclude airlines from incentivizing airlines to provide alternate options, such as a voucher worth more than the original value of the ticket for not taking a refund, if a passenger opts to take a refund when they are owed one, the DOT requires that airlines provide one in a timely manner.

Between growing pains in bringing the airline industry back up to 2019-levels and getting future schedules to match demand, complaints will continue as airlines work to get back in shape.

Did you file a complaint with the DOT in June? What do you make of the June report? Let us know in the comments!



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