How to Complain About Your Airline
Service
Rule
Change as of October
2007.
Passengers and others are no longer able to
submit complaints directly to the DOT using
email. The options are to use a DOT online form
or to mail the complaint to the DOT. AirGuide
will continue to forward complaints to the DOT,
so you may still use the AirGuide
Online
Complaint eMail.
Flying as an
airline passenger is an often memorable
experience, but there are times where the
experience is memorable for all the wrong
reasons: mechanical problems, poor service, bad
food, lost luggage, or any of a number of other
problems that result in a significant
inconvenience or financial loss for the
passenger. If you experience this kind of
problem with your airline, you may want to deal
with it by lodging a complaint with the airline
or to one of the authorities that oversee air
transportation.
Know the
Rules
When you purchase a ticket, you and the airline
have entered into a contract that covers many
different situations that you may face during a
flight. Each airline has a specific set of
guidelines that are used for situations such as
flight
delays, overbookings,
and lost
or damaged
luggage.
Dealing with
a Problem Immediately
Whenever you can identify a problem on the spot,
your best option will usually be to bring it to
the airline's attention and give them a chance
to resolve the issue. If you are at the airport,
then contact the airline's customer service
representatives, a manager, or some other
employee who has the authority to immediately
take care of your problem. If you are in flight,
then contact the head flight
attendant.
For example, if
you are involuntarily bumped from your flight
due to overbooking, you are typically eligible
for some kind of compensation from the airline.
If the airline makes an offer that is
acceptable, take it. If not, make a counter
offer. If you and the airline can't come to an
agreement on the counter offer, then everyone is
happy. If can't be resolved on the spot, you
should start document your experience, gather
relevant information from the airline, and
prepare to file a formal complaint with the
airline. If your complaint involves a U.S.
airline or involves an airline flight to or from
the U.S., you can also use the AirGuide
Online
Complaint eMail
and AirGuide will forward your complaint to the
U.S. Department of Transportation.
Understand
Why You Are Complaining
After you have decided to gather information
about your situation, but before you make that
phone call or write that letter, you should take
a bit of time and get to know a few basic things
about your particular circumstances:
- Why you are
complaining
- What
situation caused you to complain and what
people or organizations played a role in that
situation
- What are the
things that you want to happen that will
address the complaint
- What should
you reasonably expect as an
outcome
It may seem
obvious to you why you want to complain and what
you want to have happen, but you have to be very
specific in a complaint to give yourself the
best chance of success. If you are not able to
come up with enough relevant details, it would
be difficult for even a well meaning airline to
be able to respond appropriately. One must also
be reasonable when it comes to the expected
outcome of your complaint. You should only
expect compensation if the airline is obligated
to do so. It is beyond the scope of this article
to describe every kind of situation that may
obligate the airline to compensate you. However,
following the advice in this article will likely
put you in a position to know if your complaint
may also lead to some kind of
compensation.
Complaining
Basics
Taking the time to assess your situation at the
beginning will make the rest of the complaint
process as smooth as possible. That complaint
process can be roughly broken down into the
following sets of tasks: writing down the facts
of the situation, understanding whether you have
a reason to expect a response or compensation as
a result of your complaint, and filing the
complaint in the places where it can do the most
good.
Writing Down
the Relevant Details
If at all possible, you should take notes as
soon as possible after you realize you are in a
situation where you may want to complain to the
airline. Much of the basic information, such as
your flight number, or airport, is likely in
your travel records. The most important details
are the ones that directly relevant to your
situation. If you were given substandard service
by a flight attendant, that detail may be the
name of a particular flight attendant. If your
problem were a piece of checked luggage that was
lost, then you would need any documentation that
was associated with that lost bag.
One thing to
remember is that you should stick to the
factual, relevant, and verifiable information
associated with your complaint. For example,
claiming that a gate agent was, rude, and
charged you unnecessarily for an extra checked
bag may be factual and verifiable, but
discussing the inappropriate and rude behavior
is not relevant if your objective is to be
compensated for an inappropriate baggage
charge.
Your efforts to
document what happen will help you to address
two fundamental issues: what is your specific
complaint and what do you expect the airline to
do about it.
Understand
Your Situation
When you purchase a ticket, you and the airline
have entered into a contract that covers many
different situations that you may face during a
flight, including situations that are common
sources of complaints such as cancelled fights
and lost luggage. No matter what the source of
your complaint may be, you should make an effort
to get from your airline documentation that
provides the details of the agreement that they
have with you. This is typically available from
the gate agent or customer service office at the
airport. While it may not answer all of your
questions, it may tell you key bits of
information such as what specific aspects of the
agreement may have not been met or the address
where you may send your complaint.
Keep in mind
that if your complaint involves a potential
civil or criminal lawsuit, that you will likely
have to get professional legal advice to go
forward. If it does not rise to that level, then
you will likely be able to deal directly with
the airline.
Filing a
Formal Complaint
If immediate relief is not possible, then the
complaint will likely take days or weeks to
resolve since you will likely be making a formal
contact with the airline. Be sure to keep track
of any notes that you have made, all of your
travel documents (ticket receipts, baggage check
stubs, boarding passes, etc.), as well as
receipts for any out-of-pocket expenses that you
incurred.
While you may
contact one or more airline officials by phone,
your chance of getting any kind of resolution
goes way up if you rely on written communication
as your primary means of dealing with the
airline. The following guidelines will also help
to get the message across more
effectively:
- If you send
either a letter or an email, make sure that
your message includes all available options
for contacting you (phone number, fax number,
email address, physical mailing address,
etc.)
- Limit your
initial message to maximum one page (roughly
250 words)
- Include all
of the relevant information that the airline
would need to understand your
problem
- If you
incurred expenses or monetary losses, state
the amount that you expect to be
reimbursed
- Be specific
about the outcome that you want
(reimbursement, other compensation, letter of
apology, etc.)
- Keep your
letter businesslike in tone
- Focus on the
facts, and provide specific information like
dates, names, and flight numbers.
- If
necessary, send copies of tickets, receipts,
or other documents to back up your
claim.
- Include the
names of any employees who were rude or made
things worse, as well as anyone who might
have been especially helpful.
- Be
reasonable in any demand that you may
make
If you follow
these suggested guidelines, the airline will
probably treat your complaint seriously. Your
written communication with the airline will help
the airline to determine what caused your
problem, and may help the airline to prevent the
same problems from happening to
others.
Contacting
the U.S. Department of Transportation
If your complaint involved a U.S. airline or a
non-US airline operating in the United States,
you may want to submit your complaint with the
U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). You can
file a formal complaint in one of the following
ways:
- Fill out
this online
complaint
form and
have AirGuide forward your complaint it to
the DOT.
- Call the
Aviation
Consumer Protection
Division at
202-366-0511 to record your
complaint.
- Use an
online form provided by the Aviation Consumer
Protection Division at
airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/escomplaint/es.cfm
Note that the DOT form requests personal
information that the AirGuide form does not
ask. Specifically, the DOT form asks whether
you are a passenger, relative of a passenger,
a lawyer acting on behalf of a client, or a
travel agency. The AirGuide form makes no
such distinctions and doe not request this
kind of personal information.
- Mail a
written complaint to the following
address:
Aviation Consumer Protection Division,
C-75
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Ave., SE
Washington, D.C. 20590
These forwarded
complaints are not used by the DOT to mediate
individual disputes, but they are used by the
DOT as a basis for rulemaking, legislation and
media reports. In one of the DOT reports, the
monthly Air
Travel Consumer
Report,
major U.S. airlines are ranked by several
measures, including by complaint category.
Normally, the DOT doess not send any response to
consumer complaint inputs. The DOT may recommend
that a report be forwarded either to the FAA for
aviation safety matters, or to the TSA for
security issues.
Safety
Complaints
When you want to point out a specific situation
that you believe threatens the safety of
passengers, crew, or other members of the
public, it is important that you make the
appropriate authority aware of this situation.
In the United States, that authority is the
Federal Aviation Administration. For safety
issues related to U.S. airports, to any aircraft
flying in the U.S., or to U.S. registered
aircraft flying anywhere in the world, contact
the FAA at:
Assistant
Administrator for System Safety ASY-100
Federal Aviation Administration
800 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20591
You can also
contact the FAA by phone at 866-TELL-FAA
(1-866-835-5322).
Security
Complaints to the TSA
In the U.S., the Transportation Security
Administration is responsible for screening
passengers and baggage on U.S. flights,
including checked baggage. If your complaint
involves some part of the security process or if
you suspect that a TSA representative is
responsible for the loss or damage of an item,
there are specific procedures that you will have
to follow. The following references should
provide you with the information that you
need.
TSA
Claim Form
TSA
Claim Form
Instructions
TSA
Claim Form Supplemental
Information
Once you have
completed the forms, keep a copy for your
records and mail the claim to the address
indicated on the claim form. You may direct
other complaints and comments to the TSA Contact
Center at 866-289-9673, or by email at
tsa-contactcenter@dhs.gov.
We hope these tips have been useful. Contact us
if you have any suggestions at:
feedback@airguideonline.com
