Total U.S. passenger flights operated in October were up 2.6 percent year over year to nearly 650,000, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s latest Air Travel Consumer Report. Flights also were up nearly 5.2 percent month over month.
Cancellations in October also ticked up. Reporting carriers canceled 6,314 flights or about 1 percent of scheduled domestic flights, higher than the 0.3 percent rate reported in October 2023 and up from the 0.6 percent reported in September 2024.
Carriers in October with the lowest cancellations rates included United Airlines Network (0.5 percent), American Airlines Network (0.6 percent) and Delta Air Lines Network (0.6 percent). Networks include branded codeshare partners. Airlines with the highest cancellations rates included Allegiant Air (6.4 percent), Frontier Airlines (3.1 percent) and JetBlue (2.5 percent).
Reporting carriers in October handled 40.4 million bags and reported a mishandled baggage rate of 0.38 percent, lower than the rate of 0.44 percent from a year prior as well as the 0.42 percent rate posted in September 2024.
DOT said it continues to work to modernize its system for handling consumer complaints. The agency last released complaint information in September.
