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Of the United States' major airlines, The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) reports that Aloha Airlines of Honolulu, Hawaii had the least number of complaints (sent to DOT), with 0.21 per 100,000 passengers for 2007. Runner up was Southwest Airlines with 0.26 complaints per 100,000 passengers. Both of these airlines have maintained a very consistent reputation in the last two years. Major legacy carriers American, Delta, United, and US Airways all scored poorly and ended up in the last rankings of twenty listed airlines. Last year, United Airlines had 2.25 complaints per 100,000 passengers, up from 1.36 in 2006, while US Airways had 3.16, up from 1.36. Airlines based in Hawaii were ranked high with baggage handling in 2007. Both Hawaiian Airlines and Aloha Airlines had about 3 mishandled baggage reports per thousand passengers, a third of what American Airlines received. JetBlue has the honor of having the least number of passengers denied boarding in 2007 with 0.02 passengers per 10,000 passengers. Contrarily, Delta Airlines booted off 2.47 per 10,000 passengers in the same year. DOT also noted which flights were consistently delayed in December 2007: two Expressjet (Delta Connection) flights out of Los Angeles arrived over 15 minutes late late 100% of the time; O'Hare flights weren't so hot either. Finally, Continental reported one injured pet and was the only airline to do so in December 2007.
Read more of the February 2008 Air Travel Consumer Report here.
Photo: Aloha Airlines had the least number of complaints in 2007. Photo by Flickr user ewen and donabel. Used under the Creative Commons License.
