DOT: July U.S. Air Cancellation Rate Continues to Rise

U.S. carriers in July operated more flights than they did a year ago and in June, but cancellations also rose, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s latest Air Traffic Consumer Report.

Reporting carriers in July operated more than 623,000 flights, representing a 2.5 percent increase from July 2022, as well as a 3.7 percent bump from June 2023. Carriers, however, also canceled 2.5 percent of scheduled flights, an increase from the 1.8 percent reported a year prior and the 2.1 percent reported in June 2023. 

U.S. carriers in July with the lowest rates of canceled flights included Alaska Airlines Network (0.4 percent), Hawaiian Airlines (0.8 percent) and Allegiant Airlines (0.9 percent). Those with the highest cancellations rates were JetBlue (6.8 percent) as well as Frontier Airlines and United Airlines Network, each at 4.5 percent. Networks include branded codeshare partners. 

Airlines in July handled 45.6 million bags and reported a mishandled baggage rate of 0.75 percent, higher than the 0.70 percent rate in June 2023 and the 0.64 percent rate in July 2022. 

For the eighth month in a row, DOT did not include complaint data in its report, citing a continued “high volume of air travel service complaints against airlines and ticket agents. The Office of Aviation Consumer Protection is processing them. DOT also noted that on Sept. 29 it was awarded an $8 million grant from the Technology Modernization Fund to “help modernize OACP’s outdated complaint and case tracking application system.” The last complaint data DOT reported was for February 2023, released Aug. 2.

RELATED: DOT: June U.S. Flight Operations Down, Cancellations Up