It’s Official, United Is the Most Complained About US Airline
Jeff Edwards February 17, 2015
United Airlines once again leads the pack when it comes to unsatisfied passengers according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s annual Air Travel Consumer Report.
According to recently released statistics from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), the agency received 2,452 official complaints about United Airlines in 2014, more than any other U.S. airline. The airline, which saw the number of complaints logged with the DOT increase year over year, was the most complained about U.S. carrier in both 2013 and 2014.
United’s reigning title of “most complained about airline” may be in jeopardy in upcoming years. US Airways and American Airlines logged a total of 3,083 official DOT complaints, with US Airways recording 1,290 complaints and American recording 1,793 complaints each. If the two airlines, which agreed to merge in 2013, were treated as a single carrier the number of official complaints would have significantly surpassed United’s.
United was ranked second-worst when rated by complaints per 100,000 passengers flown. Denver-based Frontier Airlines, which handles far few passengers annually, had by far the highest number of official complaints filed per 100,000 passengers flown.
Delta Air Lines received the fewest complaints out of the major U.S. carriers, with just 926 complaints filed against the airline in 2014.
In 2014, passengers were most likely to contact the DOT to complain about flight delays, cancellations or missed connections, followed closely by lost or damaged luggage, and reservation ticketing and boarding issues. Passengers complained to the DOT about customer service problems 1,708 times in 2014.
The report is not all bad news — the DOT also logged 24 letters complimenting US airlines in 2014.
[Photo: United Airlines]
I agree with the statistics. Delta is 100 times better than United in terms of service.
I usually fly Delta..and sometimes I get frustrated with them..then I fly United... and once again I am amazed at the difference. A single flight on United reminds me in a hurry about how Delta is vastly better. When things get messed up on Delta, they actually communicate with you! These stats are not a fluke.
24 compliments and thousands of complaints... I would say that is all* bad news.... *almost all, as in less than 0.5% compliment letters
Focusing on the absolute number is completely meaningless. The number that's actually significant is the complaints per 100k pax flown, where Frontier was by far the worst. I have no love for United, but highlighting the absolute, rather than pax-adjusted, result is just silly.