The U.S. Department of Transportation says it has streamlined and modernized the process for consumers who want to submit complaints with the government against airlines or ticket agents.
In a statement, the federal agency claims that the previous system for handling consumer complaints relied on outdated tech from the 1990s that caused delays in addressing and resolving issues.
Under the previous system, you could submit a complaint online via the Department of Transportation website, but those submissions had to be processed manually by analysts in the department's Office of Aviation Consumer Protection (OACP), as Travel Weekly explains, before complaints were sent to airlines for review.
Relying on the old system, it took more than a month for airlines to receive complaints filed by consumers, according to the DOT.
Now, however, when you use the government's new online form to file a complaint, airlines and ticket agents will receive notification immediately through the online portal and by email. Theoretically, that could speed up resolution of the matter.
Otherwise, the complaint process remains pretty much the same.
How to File a Government Complaint Against an Airline
If something goes wrong on a flight, the U.S. government has always recommended trying to resolve the issue with the airline first.
If that doesn't work, you can escalate things to the federal level—but be sure you have a legitimate complaint by familiarizing yourself with your passenger rights in the U.S., and make sure you direct your complaint to the right federal agency.
The online portal for air travel–related complaints we're discussing here covers customer service stuff like oversold flights, mishandled luggage, tarmac delays, refunds, and civil rights violations (i.e., if you believe an airline has discriminated against you because of disability, race, color, national origin, religion, sex, or ancestry.)
Matters having to do with aviation safety should go to the Federal Aviation Administration, while you should direct any security concerns to the Transportation Security Administration.
For customer service complaints filed using the new system, OACP ensures that the airline or travel agency in question gets the complaint and then the government directs the company to respond to the customer and send a copy of the response to OACP.
"OACP is not able to respond to each complaint individually given the volume of complaints received," the government's new complaint portal notes. But "complaints from consumers are helpful to track trends or spot areas of concern that warrant further action."
(Civil rights complaints are an exception; each of those is investigated by OACP analysts and findings are released to the passenger at the end of the investigation.)
In addition to using speedier technology, the new consumer complaint form has more informational fields than before, DOT says, so that customers can get more specific about their issues with the airline. And the system has "enhanced security and privacy protection" features, too.
Incidentally, you can still send your complaint to the government by way of written letter to this address: Office of Aviation Consumer Protection, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, D.C., 20590.
You won't be prompted for all the relevant info to provide as you will with the online form, though, so make sure you thoroughly read the instructions for complaining at transportation.gov.
To file an airline complaint online using the new government system, go to airconsumer.dot.gov/consumer.