Airline complaints? We’ve all got ’em.
Travel long enough, and you’ll eventually find yourself at odds with an airline. It doesn’t matter if the airline is based in the U.S. or abroad, is a so-called “legacy” airline, or a bare-bones discounter—airlines tend to disappoint their customers on occasion.
Some of it isn’t deserved. Certain parts of the air travel experience cannot be helped, while others are entirely outside the control of the airlines, like airport security screening or flight delays related to weather. But it’s also a relatively little-known fact that the U.S. government, via the Department of Transportation, logs consumer complaints from airline passengers about the service they’ve received, and when they find airlines have violated the law, they issue fines or other corrective action.
But when should consumers complain to the government? And what—if anything—will they do?
How the Government Is Involved With Airlines
Many travelers are aware that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) closely regulates the safety of the U.S. airline industry (and all other types of civil aviation) via the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). But it’s a slightly lesser-known fact that the government also provides oversight of many consumer-related functions of the airline industry.
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While the U.S. airline industry is considered deregulated, that simply means that the government cannot put restrictions on the routes airlines fly or the fares they charge. Airlines are still subject to regulation on things like how they advertise and sell their product, how they handle situations where they’ve sold more seats than they have on the aircraft, or how they ensure their employees aren’t discriminating against passengers on the basis of race, sex, or disability (among other protected classes).
The DOT also informs travelers about airline quality, using specific metrics, via the Air Travel Consumer Report (ATCR) which travelers can consult to find out how often an airline they might buy their ticket from has delayed or canceled flights, denied boarding to passengers with confirmed reservations, mishandled checked bags, or gotten complaints from consumers.
How Complaints Work
Travelers who are unhappy with the service they’ve received from an airline should first contact the airline. This gives them the opportunity to make things right, or at least provide an explanation of what happened, or to clarify their policies.
If consumers still aren’t satisfied with the response they receive from an airline (or in rare cases, if they don’t receive one), they can forward their complaint to the DOT using their form. The DOT reviews the complaint, logs it against the airline, and then sends a copy to the airline for further review and response. Whether the airline changes its response or compensation in response to a DOT complaint is up to them. Some airlines will give complaints another, closer review upon receiving notification of a DOT complaint, and this will sometimes result in compensation or a gesture of goodwill, like travel credit. Other airlines view DOT complaints as a lost cause and often provide nothing more than a terse—but generally personalized—response.
It’s also worth noting that the DOT does not typically mediate or resolve individual cases, unless they concern disabilities or discrimination, such as the Department’s judgment against Lufthansa, alleging it discriminated against Jewish passengers when it denied them boarding for a flight in 2022.
However, airlines do typically care about DOT complaints because the number of complaints is typically tracked in the ATCR, but the DOT has not published complaint data since July 2023. Complaints have not been reported because of a spike in the number of complaints received and outdated software (which they are in the process of upgrading) which prevents them from accurately reporting data.
What to Complain About
You can really complain about anything an airline has done that has bothered you (as long as it’s related to a ticket you bought or attempted to buy), but there are a couple of topics that are the most helpful to get through to government regulators, including:
Discrimination Complaints: These are the only complaints, along with disability complaints that the DOT investigates individually, but allegations are often difficult to prove. Keep detailed notes on your situation, focusing on how you were treated differently, and why you believe it was related to your race, color, national origin, sex (including sexual orientation), religion, or ancestry.
Disability-related Complaints: The Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) was passed by Congress as companion legislation to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990, and it outlines how airlines must accommodate passengers with disabilities. The DOT recently expanded requirements for airlines when accommodating passengers with disabilities, so check the Airline Passengers With Disabilities Bill of Rights for detailed information on those requirements, and be sure to outline exactly how the airline failed to provide required accommodations.
Denied Boarding: The DOT has specific requirements—including immediate cash compensation—for when airlines oversell flights (that is, when they sell more seats than they actually have). This includes when passengers get “bumped” for operational reasons like aircraft weight restrictions. Review the DOT policies on oversales, and contact the DOT if you disagree after receiving a response from your airline.
Complaints About Complaints: The law requires airlines to acknowledge written complaints within 30 days, and to substantively respond to complaints within 60 days. If you’ve waited more than 60 days for a response, or feel the airline’s response does not directly address your concerns, you can allege a violation of 14 CFR 259.7, but the DOT will not directly investigate.
Other Complaints: Many airlines publish Customer Service Commitments (CSC) on their websites, and they also file these with the DOT. If you have contacted an airline following an incident and feel the airline has not followed its own rules in its CSC, let the DOT know. You can also complain if you feel an airline has engaged in unfair or deceptive practices, such as hiding fees, bait-and-switch pricing, or other unfair or deceptive advertising and sales practices.
There are a couple of topics, however, that are out of scope for the DOT. The DOT generally has the authority to investigate consumer-related civil complaints against the airlines. If the complaint is criminal in nature, alleging assault or sexual assault, it should be directed to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Safety concerns should be directed to the FAA. Security complaints go to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
Consumers should also understand that the DOT does not litigate legal proceedings on behalf of consumers. If passengers wish to seek recovery for damages from an airline, they should consult legal counsel, or they can seek relief in small claims court if their complaint qualifies in their jurisdiction. If you feel an airline has violated state law, contact your state’s attorney general or department of commerce.
Complaint Tracking
For complaints the DOT doesn’t directly action, they look for trends in the complaints for opportunity to revisit department policies. In 2024, the DOT issued consent orders against airlines for operating consistently delayed flights, expanded rights for passengers with disabilities, and rolled out rules preventing airlines from charging so-called junk fees—including fees for seating families traveling together, and made airline refunds automatic.
Ultimately, there may not always be a direct-line benefit in complaining to the DOT when you’ve had a poor air travel experience, but complaints do slowly drive the department’s consumer protection efforts—even across multiple administrations.
