The U.S. Department of Transportation last released detailed U.S. airline and ticket agent complaint data in November 2023 for the months of March, April and May. On Friday, the agency released data on the number of submissions it received in 2023—complaints, inquiries and opinions—for its Air Travel Consumer Report.
DOT also detailed the number of disability-related and discrimination-related complaints it received. The agency said it still is in the process of revising how it processes air travel service complaints for airlines and travel agents “given the continued high volume” of such complaints. It said it will provide more detailed data for those categories “once its new modernized system is operational.”
Meanwhile, DOT in 2023 received nearly 96,900 submissions, compared with more than 86,000 in 2022. Of those in 2023, nearly 67,700 concerned U.S. carriers, about 25,000 concerned foreign carriers and nearly 3,200 concerned travel companies.
For each month from June through September 2023, the number of submissions received increased from their corresponding months in 2022. The percentage increases ranged from 8.3 percent to 65.5 percent year over year.
Between October and December, the number of submissions DOT received declined each month year over year. It declined 69.5 percent in December 2023 compared with December 2022, a month that included negative weather conditions and the Southwest Airlines meltdown during the holidays.
