Airline Passenger Complaints on the Rise in the U.S.

Complaints about U.S. airlines have jumped more than 29 percent this year, according to the Department of Transportation, with big increases in canceled flights and baggage problems.

So far this year, US Airways has the most complaints per passenger, while Southwest Airlines has the fewest. The biggest complaint has been flight problems, which includes cancellations, delays and missed connections.

In October, for example, the number of canceled flights increased nearly 52 percent to 10,475, from 6,895 canceled trips in October 2004. Mishandled baggage reports increased as well, rising nearly 22 percent to 239,452 for the month, compared with 196,847 mishandled bags a year earlier.

The Transportation Department says it thinks complaints are up this year because more people are flying. Through October, U.S. airlines boarded 496.2 million passengers this year, up 3 percent from 481.2 million in the first 10 months of 2004, according to the DOT. Massive airline schedule changes have also added disruption, leading to more gripes.

The DOT is also receiving more complaints, ironically, about unsatisfactory responses to complaints from airlines, a senior official says. Financial strains have left fewer workers to respond to complaints, and airlines are perhaps less generous at doling out compensation to customers.