JetBlue responds to report of the worst complaint ratios in 2022


Flights

JetBlue says it’s devoted to serving prospects, together with when journeys do not go as deliberate.

A JetBlue aircraft at New York’s JFK Airport. AP

The airline trade obtained probably the most passenger complaints in not less than 1 / 4 of a century in 2022, in response to a current report by the US PIRG Schooling Fund.

And the report discovered that JetBlue, Logan Airport’s largest provider, was among the many worst offenders.

  • Chase Sapphire Lounge

    Look inside Logan Airport’s swanky new lounge

Vacationers filed 47,591 complaints with the U.S. Division of Transportation towards U.S. airways final 12 months, in response to the report, with the common ratio of complaints per 100,000 boarded prospects among the many 17 largest airways, leaping from 3.1 in 2021 to five.6 in 2022.

The three airways with the worst grievance ratios have been Frontier with 20.3 per 100,000 passengers, Spirit Airways with 10.1 per 100,000, and JetBlue with 9 per 100,000. It’s the second 12 months in a row that these three airways have had the worst ratios.

The grievance ratio of Southwest Airways, which had a meltdown in December that resulted in about 17,000 canceled flights, elevated from 1.4 per 100,000 passengers in 2021 to six.8 in 2022.

“Air journey is only a mess proper now,” Deirdre Cummings, client program director at MASSPIRG Schooling Fund, advised The Boston Globe.

“Airways typically submit unrealistic schedules, they cancel flights, and so they drag their toes with refunds,” she added. “Airways and on-line ticket brokers simply don’t face sufficient penalties after they abuse prospects.”

The majority of the complaints have been about flight issues resembling cancellations, delays, and missed connections, in response to the report, adopted by refunds and mishandled baggage.

JetBlue ranked No. 6 in complete flight drawback complaints with 1,506, inserting behind Spirit, Frontier, United, American, and Southwest.

As for on-time flight efficiency — outlined as arriving inside quarter-hour of the scheduled time — the 17 largest airways final 12 months had an on-time efficiency of 76.6%, a proportion that has dropped underneath 77% only one different time within the final 15 years.

Allegiant Air had the worst on-time file at 63.4%, adopted by JetBlue at 64.6% and Frontier at 66.1%, in response to the report. Delta had the perfect on-time file at 82.5%.

Whereas some flights are delayed on account of climate, heavy site visitors, and safety delays, the most important motive for delays are inside the airline’s management, in response to the report, resembling upkeep or crew issues, cabin cleansing, baggage loading, and fueling.

JetBlue offered the next assertion to Boston.com in response to the report:

“It is very important observe, the Northeast is by far probably the most congested airspace within the U.S., with extra air site visitors management delays and climate delays than some other area. In 2022, 76% of our operations touched congested airspace in comparison with 42% for our closest competitor and different opponents starting from 7% to 32%.

We’re happy to have considerably improved completion issue within the second half of 2022. We additionally had one of many highest completion components through the Christmas and New 12 months’s holidays and didn’t cancel a single flight over the Thanksgiving journey interval. Moreover, our acquisition of Spirit Airways will diversify our community exterior of the congested Northeast, giving us higher operational resiliency and elevated relevance to prospects.”

— JetBlue assertion

JetBlue additionally pointed to its Buyer Service Plan, which it says reinforces the corporate’s dedication to serving prospects when journeys don’t go as deliberate. The plan particulars the compensation guidelines for numerous points resembling delays and cancellations.

Horizon Airways had the bottom complaints-to-passengers ratio, adopted by SkyWest Airways and Mesa Airways.

Try the US PIRG Schooling Fund report.