In this post I wanted to talk a bit about how to go about filing a complaint with an airline, because it’s something that a lot of people are really bad at (respectfully). So let me share some tips about how I’d go about approaching a complaint to an airline, and most importantly, what not to do. Separately, I wrote about how to complain to a hotel.
In this post:
Tips for filing an airline complaint
Did you have a bad experience with an airline? Maybe your flight was delayed, or your bag was lost, or you received unhelpful service, or you have a general tip for an airline to improve? Below are my top recommendations for filing an airline complaint, in no particular order.
Perhaps the takeaway is just as much how you shouldn’t complain to an airline, rather than just about how you should…
Be brief, polite, and focused
If you’re writing a complaint letter to an airline, be brief, and stick to the core of your issue. I get forwarded a lot of complaints that people send to airlines, and it sometimes blows my mind what I see.
People write emotional novels to airlines. Your complaint to an airline doesn’t need to be 10 pages, and doesn’t need to mention every single way the airline has wronged you since it was founded.
Even if something very bad happened, keep it as short as you can, to a few paragraphs. The person who reads your complaint letter reads this stuff all day long, and I can assure you, the longer the note, the less likely it’s given proper attention.
Also, just be polite. The person working in customer relations at an airline didn’t personally wrong you, and you’re not more likely to get a favorable response by being rude. Personally I think it’s important to separate the person reading your complaint from the company as such, so I avoid using words like “you” when referring to the issues (“you lost my bag”).
Be realistic about what you’re asking for
The airline industry is a really tough business, and as much as airlines often drop the ball, they do a pretty impressive job when you consider the complexity of the operation. I say this because it’s important that people have realistic expectations when contacting airlines.
In terms of customer experience and making consumers whole, Frontier Airlines is not Four Seasons. I say this because often people will have complaints where they demand a refund for a delayed flight or unfriendly service, but that’s unlikely to happen. Also, airline contracts of carriage are incredibly one-sided.
With that in mind, I think it’s important to consider what you’re trying to accomplish with a complaint:
- If you simply want your feedback to be heard, then absolutely send an email with a compliment or complaint, or complete a post-flight survey; airlines do “file” this kind of feedback, and if enough people say the same thing, the airline will listen
- If there was a service related issue or a delay (that’s not covered by any government regulations), expect that you might get some bonus points or a voucher for a future ticket; airlines generally don’t refund tickets or provide cash compensation, unless they’re legally required to
- If it’s government mandated compensation you’re after (like EU261 in Europe), you might need to be persistent
Start by emailing airline customer relations
When you want an issue addressed by an airline, you should first take the traditional route of contacting customer relations. Most airlines offer customer relations via email, or via a form on their website. Briefly explain your issue and what you’re hoping for, and start there.
Definitely don’t have high expectations here, because as we’ve seen, some airlines have even automated the initial customer relations responses. However, I think it’s only fair to first give an airline a shot to respond to your issues.
If you’re not satisfied with the response, by all means respond to the email once, in hopes of something more in line with what you were hoping for.
The three ways to escalate an airline complaint
If you reach out to an airline but aren’t happy with the response you receive, there are three best ways to escalate it, as I see it.
The first method is to email the airline CEO. It’s usually easy to figure out an airline CEO’s email address (it’s typically [email protected]). And no, while they’re unlikely to personally respond to you, these emails do often get handled by some sort of executive customer relations team, who may take complaints more seriously. I hate even recommending this, but the truth is that it’s one of the only ways to directly escalate something with an airline.
The second method is to file a complaint with the Department of Transportation (DOT), assuming it’s a US flight. This isn’t going to get you some sort of an instant response, but it will force the airline to eventually respond directly to you, and the DOT will be CCed on the correspondence. You’ll want to save this for topics related to safety, complying with government regulations, false advertising, etc.
The third method is to reach out to some sort of media outlet. The media loves picking up airline stories, and the best way to get the attention of an airline is to make something go viral. Heck, you can even just post something on Twitter/X in hopes of it going viral, as media has certainly been democratized nowadays.
Bottom line
Dealing with airline customer relations can no doubt be a frustrating experience. If you are going to reach out to an airline, I’d always recommend keeping your complaint brief, non-emotional, and friendly, because being rude and long-winded isn’t going to get you any further.
I don’t want to suggest that there’s some amazing secret to getting your airline complaint heard every time, but in general, the most useful thing to be aware of is what your options are for escalating an issue.
What’s your take on the best way to file a complaint with an airline?
For damage to luggage, what's the best route: the airline direct or your travel credit card? We had our bags smashed by Fiji Airways recently. Their offer was peanuts compared to the cost of the damage, so should I involve Chase? I think yes. I also think Fiji Airways needs to step up into their 'big boy' pants now that they want to join One World.
I went the social media route with numerous circular emails with Iberia by going to their Facebook page. Turns out that is monitored by scammers who then contacted me and tried to turn it into a scam. That makes sense - get people who are frustrated by not being heard, respond to them and, prime vulnerability! So I'd add that caveat.
Sometimes when a person has an unpleasant experience while traveling, they just need to vent their frustration and just want someone in authority to validate the bad experience.
This was the case when Avelo customer “dis”-service responded to my complaint. Instead of responding with any empathy, they said my situation couldn’t possibly have occurred and even it had happened, they took no responsibility.
All they had to do was say “sorry” and I would have...
Sometimes when a person has an unpleasant experience while traveling, they just need to vent their frustration and just want someone in authority to validate the bad experience.
This was the case when Avelo customer “dis”-service responded to my complaint. Instead of responding with any empathy, they said my situation couldn’t possibly have occurred and even it had happened, they took no responsibility.
All they had to do was say “sorry” and I would have felt satisfied. Instead, Avelo lost a customer for life.
One of the arguments I never understood was when someone says: I have booked 6 months ago. Why is it relevant. I mean what’s the difference between a booking done 6 months ago and another one 3 days ago for the matter of a complaint?
If you've booked a seat well in advance so that you can sit with someone or your family and later get separated because of something that is the fault of the airline, I think it's relevant.
Um...Execs, DOT, media mostly a waste of time.
Execs will have email filters. DOT collects stats. Media only if it's really egregious (if it's that bad, then contact Christopher Elliot or local outlet, if specific to that airport location).
What's worth more discussion is how to write a complaint (or compliment) that can get past the AI firewalls/automated responses...THAT is the real challenge to figure out.
I think in flying American since 2003 I may have filed 2 complaints. Mostly that low number because filing a compliant with no expected outcome is a waste of time. At best you might get a few thousand miles thrown your way, just not worth my time.
Also, airlines increasingly are telling serial complainers to take their business elsewhere.
While it can be frustrating, like when the first class flight attendant stares off into...
I think in flying American since 2003 I may have filed 2 complaints. Mostly that low number because filing a compliant with no expected outcome is a waste of time. At best you might get a few thousand miles thrown your way, just not worth my time.
Also, airlines increasingly are telling serial complainers to take their business elsewhere.
While it can be frustrating, like when the first class flight attendant stares off into space and won't do pdbs or is finally serving your meal as the a/c is beginning to descend (that happened to me recently on a flight from Chicago to Miami) you just have to chock it up to the joys of flying.
Same experience. AA just doesn't care. Standard response is either, "Sorry we didn't meet your expectations", "Thank you for bringing this to our attention" or both.
It's cost them thousands of dollars as I book away whenever possible
Brain and beauty are generally incompatible.
Ever heard of "dumb blonde". Do not expect competence from them.
FOX channel is a typical example. I do not watch it but flip thru it.
I learned from your mom last night that lack of brain and lack of beauty are pretty compatible though
I have had success with JetBlue after standard customer relations dropped the ball and there was seemingly no recourse. Instead of the CEO, I’ve tried sending my feedback/concerns to publicly listed airline executives who’s title is specifically related to customer experience. It certainly works and they can absolutely make things right!
In regards to the "[email protected]" which does actually work if anyone was wondering, the email may use the airlines initials.
For example for American it's @aa.com not @AmericanAirlines.com
And yes it should be the executives themselves, and yes it does work.
Be polite though please!
The polite thing to do is go through frontline customer channels. The impolite thing to do is believe your matter is so important you need to skip the queue of customers and bother a white collar employee whose job duties are not to handle customer complaints.
Just because it “works” doesn’t make it appropriate.
You are a customer. You’ve paid for the right to be a jerk. It’s incumbent upon the airline to read your lengthy diatribe and figure out exactly what it is they should do to remediate their errors.
The idea that a customer needs to be respectful when COMPLAINING is the most toxic and fanciful element of modern culture. I’m tired of being told not to be a jerk. I live in NYC (transplant, didn’t grow...
You are a customer. You’ve paid for the right to be a jerk. It’s incumbent upon the airline to read your lengthy diatribe and figure out exactly what it is they should do to remediate their errors.
The idea that a customer needs to be respectful when COMPLAINING is the most toxic and fanciful element of modern culture. I’m tired of being told not to be a jerk. I live in NYC (transplant, didn’t grow up here). The first thing I noticed about the city is how ill mannered the customer service staff here are. Walk up to them and they never smile or say hello. They stare blankly at you until you speak. Then they reply with the fewest words possible. What a cold, charmless approach to life. And I’m not allowed to complain about it.
So if I want to send a dissertation to an airline, they’re going to read it and deal with it.
It’s also incredibly ironic for this blog which is famously verbose to tell us to be brief.
It’s funny. I grew up southern hospitality, Minnesota nice. I’d never complain at all. Then I moved to NYC and found out you must be a jerk to get ahead in life.
@paul weiss- re “must be a jerk to get ahead” don’t come to me. I’m always more willing to help a reasonable, kind person than a jerk.
You have the right to be a jerk.
You won't get resolution of your issues though.
State the facts. Every minute less that I waste reading your dissertation is a minute more I can spend solving your problem.
Speaking from my personal experience (both receiving and providing feedback), direct communication with the executives is the best way to go. I have directly contacted dozens of airline executives (many who I already knew, but plenty who I didn't) and I think I get a response well over 50% of the time. This is especially useful if trying to pass along praise for exceptional performance as an executive can usually handle that immediately and directly....
Speaking from my personal experience (both receiving and providing feedback), direct communication with the executives is the best way to go. I have directly contacted dozens of airline executives (many who I already knew, but plenty who I didn't) and I think I get a response well over 50% of the time. This is especially useful if trying to pass along praise for exceptional performance as an executive can usually handle that immediately and directly. Don't expect an executive to solve your problem (especially if it's complex or contentious) but rather to delegate it for investigation, which depends on the motivation of the person it is delegated to (stuff I genuinely wanted looked into such as allegations of clear breaches of airline policy usually got followed up on by me, but basic transactional stuff like requests for refunds, etc.. didn't).
Going through frontline feedback forms is useless. They are either handled by automation/AI bots or by completely unempowered agents who are trained to regurgitate stock responses.
Most of us working professionals know this, but a message to an executive doesn’t reach the executive. It reaches the executive’s assistant. The assistant is empowered to ghostwrite a response.
Do all the things we teach our kids! Direct (give airline a chance to fix before 3rd party involvement), calm and make your concerns and wishes known.
If the situation was reversed… golden rule
A fair warning. advise them that I’ll use alternate options to get solutions if they aren’t willing to help.
After seeing many of kids in the public especially lounge and on the plane, I have doubts about methods on how some parents teach their kids.
It's not just kids these days, how much can you expect from parents who plays contraception lottery.
To;dr Be brief and to the point, don’t get personal. Start with contacting CEO, then regulatory department then press.
Customer service employees are not clairvoyant. Tell them what your expectations are. If you expect an upgrade, or a meal voucher, or 10k miles tell them.
It’s much easier for them if they know what you want.
What I want is a lot of things. Airlines would never give it to me.
Ugly flight crew? I want them replaced with all 22 year old blondes.
Fortunately, I have received upgrades, meal vouchers, and 10K miles without asking for it.
I had a passenger who once complained about exactly this. He said our cabin crew were "ugly" and "too dark skinned" (we were an airline in Africa FWIW).
Customer care escalated that one to me as COO and I took great pleasure in personally replying and telling the customer to go **** himself in just slightly more polite terms.
Of course you had to mention you were the COO of an African based airline cos I mean as a white person what could you have been?
Candidate for a Republican Vice President.