DOT: Consumer airline complaints surge in March

Consumer complaints about airlines forwarded to the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Aviation Consumer Protection Division during March 2015 increased 55.1 percent from March 2014 and are up 27.2 percent from February 2015, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Air Travel Consumer Report, released on Monday, said.

The DOT contacts individual carriers when sharp increases in complaints are noticed. Information in the report includes tarmac delays, on-time performance, cancellations, perpetually delayed flights and causes of flight delays, as well as passenger statistics (oversales and bumping), lost and mishandled luggage, and disability and discrimination complaints.
The report also included statistics on incidents involving loss, death or injury of animals traveling by air.

Detailed information on flight delays and their causes is available at http://www.bts.gov. Consumer complaints about air travel can be filed in writing with the Aviation Consumer Protection Division, U.S. Department of Transportation, C-75, W96-432, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, Washington, DC 20590; by voice mail at 202-366-2220; by TTY at 202-366-0511; or on the web at www.dot.gov/airconsumer.

The Air Travel Consumer Report can be found in its entirety at http://www.dot.gov/airconsumer/air-travel-consumer-reports.