Over the past year, air travel has gotten even worse, as evidenced by the number of consumer complaints filed with the U.S. government.
The Department of Transportation said Friday it received nearly 97,000 complaints in 2023, up from about 86,000 the year before.
According to the ministry, there were so many complaints that it took until July to sort the returns and collect the figures.
That’s the highest number of consumer complaints about airlines since 2020, when airlines were slow to refund customers after air travel ground to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The increase in complaints came despite airlines canceling far fewer U.S. flights: 116,700, or 1.2% of the total, last year, compared with about 210,500, or 2.3%, in 2022, according to data from FlightAware.
However, delays remained stubbornly high last year, at around 21% of all flights.
So far this year, cancellations have remained relatively low — about 1.3% of all flights — but delays still stand at about 21%.
Last year, more than two-thirds of all complaints involved U.S. airlines, but a quarter involved foreign airlines.
The remainder was mainly about travel agents and tour operators.
The number of complaints about the treatment of passengers with disabilities has increased by more than a quarter compared to 2022. The number of complaints about discrimination, although small, has also increased sharply.
Most were about race or national origin.
According to the Department for Transport, the increase in complaints is partly due to more consumers being aware of their rights and having the opportunity to file a complaint.
The department said it has helped Southwest Airlines customers obtain more than $600 million in refunds and compensation after the airline canceled nearly 17,000 flights in December 2022.
Southwest also paid a $35 million fine.
Airlines receive many more complaints from travelers who don’t know how to file a complaint with the government or don’t bother. However, the airlines don’t release these numbers.
The Department of Transportation is modernizing its complaint handling system, which the agency says will allow it to better oversee the aviation industry.
However, the department is now publishing complaint figures months too late. It only published figures for the second half of 2023 on Friday.