If you’re dissatisfied with the current state of air travel within the U.S., you’re in good company.
Reported complaints against U.S. airlines climbed sharply during the first quarter in the calendar year consumers’ advocates assert, as passengers remain very dissatisfied with the service despite improvement in service.
“The complaints data is shocking,” said Teresa Murray who is a consumer advocate for U.S. Public Interest Research Group that released the fresh report that is based on the data released from the Department of Transportation.
The number of cancellations for flights fell significantly during the beginning of the year as per the DOT. Murray declared that this trend is positive, but said the delays as well as mishandled baggage continue to be significant issues.
“People remain angry and unsatisfied by their flight experiences,” she said in an interview. “The complaints continue to flood into.”
More than 26,000 passengers filed formal complaints regarding U.S. airlines in the first five months of 2023more than that number in the same time in the previous year, as per the report. It’s is on track to surpass the record set in 2022.
The aviation industry has had to struggle to keep up with the rise in demand, even when travel numbers soared to levels pre-pandemic. The result is that both airlines as well as a number of air traffic control facilities with a shortage of personnel.
“We see more people flying than ever before, and less cancellations than we’ve experienced in the past” Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced at a news conference in the month of March.
The largest U.S. airlines canceled about 1.6 percent of flights from the beginning of January to September this year. This is lower than 2.8 percent in the same time last year.
Buttigieg described it as “a significant improvement in numbers” and added that airlines should be given some of the credit “both in regards to the real-world relevance of their schedules as well as in terms of the capacity and staffing to meet the demands that have coming in.”
Yet, at the same the amount of delays has risen.
The biggest U.S. airlines had an on-time performance of 76.2 percent during its first quarter of this year. That’s down from 76.6 percent in the previous year. This figure is lower than 77% for the first time in other time over the last 15 years Murray said.
The aviation system was capable of avoiding major service interruptions in the last Thanksgiving holiday. However, many travelers aren’t forgetting the calamity of 2022 which was the year that severe winter weather and a software malfunction in the software of Southwest Airlines caused thousands of cancellations of flights and chaos throughout the nation.
Murray advised travelers to prepare for a challenging travel season during the holiday season.
“We are aware that flights will be jam-packed in the next few days,” she said. “We highly recommend doing the traditional thing of arriving at airports earlier since you’ll have less chance of being bumped. You’ll have a better possibility of getting to where you’d like to go.”
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