How to file a DOT complaint about an airline, and what to include

Step 1: complain to the airline

DOT's own form page says complaints should come to it "when an airline or travel agency is not able to resolve an air travel problem to your satisfaction". DOT OACP form The airline side is set by federal rules:

• Where to send it. Each covered airline must publish the mailing address and email or web address of its complaints department on its website and on all e-ticket confirmations, and give it out at staffed ticket counters and gates when asked. 259.7(b)
• What counts. A complaint is "a specific written expression of dissatisfaction concerning a difficulty or problem" you had using the airline's services. A phone call isn't written; keep it to email, the airline's web form or a letter. 259.7(c)
• Social media. An airline that doesn't treat its social accounts as a complaint channel has to say so on its main page there and point you to its mail, email or web address. 259.7(d) A public post isn't a substitute for a written complaint.

Two airline contracts we read tonight spell out the channel:

Read Oct 31, 2026 in a headless browser (plain requests to both sites were blocked or timed out). We didn't check other airlines' complaint channels tonight. Their e-ticket confirmations must list them (259.7(b)).

Disability problems: ask for the CRO

• Airlines using aircraft with 19 or more seats must have a Complaints Resolution Official (CRO) available, in person or by phone at no cost: US airlines at every airport they serve while operating there, foreign airlines at airports with their flights to or from the US. If staff don't fix a disability-related problem on the spot, they must tell you about the CRO and help you reach one. 14 CFR 382.151
• The CRO can overrule other staff (but not the pilot on safety) and must give you a written statement, in person or within 30 calendar days, that tells you of your right to pursue DOT enforcement. 382.151(e), 382.153
• A written disability complaint should say whether you contacted a CRO, with the name and date, and enclose any CRO response. The airline must send a written answer within 30 days that "specifically admit[s] or den[ies]" a violation. It doesn't have to answer complaints sent more than 45 days after the incident unless DOT referred them. 382.155
• You can file an informal complaint with DOT "no later than 6 months after the date of the incident". 382.159

Step 2: file with DOT

DOT's Office of Aviation Consumer Protection (OACP) runs a complaint, comment and compliment form at airconsumer.dot.gov, which we read directly tonight. It says to have these ready before you start, because "you cannot save what you have entered in the form and come back later":

• Booking details (ticket, itinerary or invoice)
• Flight details (dates, flight numbers, city pairs)
• Supporting documents, such as a copy of the complaint you sent the airline or travel agent

A search-engine copy of DOT's older form at secure.dot.gov (we couldn't open it directly; it returned HTTP 403) showed a description box capped at 1,000 characters, up to 6 attachments under 10 MB each (PDF, Word, images and similar), and a checkbox for discrimination based on disability, race, color, national origin, religion, sex or ancestry. Those limits may have changed; if the box is short, put the details in an attached letter.

By mail: Office of Aviation Consumer Protection, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590. Include your full address, email and phone number. (Address from a search-engine copy of DOT's complaint page, read Oct 31, 2026; the same street address appears on the OACP form page.)

What to write

Short and checkable beats long and angry. A structure that covers what DOT asks for:

1. Who: your name, contact details, and the passenger's name if it's not you.
2. Which trip: airline (or travel site), confirmation code, flight numbers, dates, from/to.
3. What happened: two or three sentences with times. "Flight 123 on Nov 2 was moved from 9:05 am to 1:40 pm; I declined the change on Oct 20 and asked for a refund."
4. What you already did: when you wrote to the airline and what it answered (or that it didn't within 30/60 days).
5. What you want: one specific outcome, such as "refund of $412.60 to my original card".
6. The rule, if you know it: for example 14 CFR 260.6 for a refund after a significant schedule change, or 260.5 for a bag fee on a late bag.
7. Attachments: confirmation email, change notice, screenshots, receipts, the airline's replies.

Matching guides for the most common complaints: refund refused or stuck as a credit, late refunds, cancelled or delayed flights, bags, and bag fees by airline.

What DOT does with it

• OACP makes sure the right airline or travel agency gets the complaint and "directs it to respond directly to the consumer with a copy to OACP".
• For civil rights complaints (disability, race, color, national origin, religion, sex, ancestry), OACP "will investigate every complaint that it receives" and send you its findings.
• For everything else, OACP says it "is not able to respond to each complaint individually". It uses complaints in targeted or sample reviews and "generally" pursues enforcement where it "may infer a pattern or practice of violations".
• Complaint counts per airline are published monthly in the Air Travel Consumer Report.

Source: DOT, Complaint Handling Process, read Oct 31, 2026. DOT's Inspector General described the review process in a September 2025 report: an analyst codes the complaint, forwards it to the airline, then reviews the airline's response and can flag patterns for OACP attorneys (OIG report AV2025045, read Oct 31, 2026).

Separately, a 2026 rule will require each airline to post a one-page passenger rights summary on its website (14 CFR 259.9), but only after DOT announces paperwork approval in the Federal Register. A Federal Register search on Oct 31, 2026 found no such notice yet. 91 FR 21955

How many people complain

• August 2026: 8,908 complaints, up from 8,544 in July; about 68% about US airlines, 27% foreign airlines and 5% travel agencies. Top categories: refunds 2,478, flight schedule 1,971, baggage 1,274. These figures come from Business Travel News (Oct 26, 2026), reporting DOT's October 2026 Air Travel Consumer Report (August data). We couldn't open DOT's report directly (transportation.gov returned HTTP 403), and Business Travel News also blocked our reader, so we read its article from a search-engine copy on Oct 31, 2026.
• The pandemic spike: DOT's Inspector General counted 15,332 complaints in 2019 (1,568 about refunds), then 89,518 refund complaints in 2020 alone, 87% of all complaints that year, and over 139,000 refund complaints from 2020 to 2022. OIG AV2025045
• New system: DOT moved complaints to a new system (ACERS) on Aug 1, 2025, which separates complaints, compliments and comments (DOT "What's New" page, read from a search-engine copy; the OIG report also gives the Aug 1, 2025 launch date).

Problems DOT doesn't handle

• Safety (aircraft, pilots, air traffic control, exit seating): the FAA.
• Security screening (TSA checkpoints, bag screening, the no-fly list): the TSA.

From DOT's complaint form pages (OACP form read directly; secure.dot.gov form from a search-engine copy), Oct 31, 2026.

Checklist

1. Gather: confirmation email, receipts, change or cancellation notices, screenshots, names and times.
2. At the airport with a disability problem: ask for the CRO and get the written statement.
3. Write to the airline using the address on your e-ticket confirmation or its website. Note the date sent.
4. Wait for the clock: acknowledgment within 30 days, answer within 60 (disability: 30). If it's a refund, the refund deadline is much shorter.
5. File with DOT on the OACP form with everything ready in one sitting. Disability: within 6 months of the incident.
6. Paid by card and the refund is overdue? Your card issuer's billing-dispute process runs separately; see what federal card rules say.

Sources

• 14 CFR 259.7, response to consumer problems (also 259.9, passenger rights summary): eCFR (title 14 current as of Oct 29, 2026; read Oct 31, 2026).
• 14 CFR part 382, subpart K (382.151–382.159), disability complaints and CROs: eCFR (read Oct 31, 2026).
• DOT OACP complaint form and Complaint Handling Process pages: airconsumer.dot.gov (read Oct 31, 2026).
• DOT, One-Page Document on Passenger Rights, 91 FR 21955 (Apr. 24, 2026): govinfo.gov (read Oct 31, 2026); Federal Register API search for an OMB-approval notice, Oct 31, 2026: none found.
• DOT Office of Inspector General, report AV2025045 (Sep 17, 2025): oig.dot.gov (PDF) (read Oct 31, 2026).
• United Contract of Carriage, Rules 3 and 29 (revised Sep 30, 2026) and American Conditions of Carriage (updated Aug 13, 2026), read Oct 31, 2026 in a headless browser; Southwest Contract of Carriage, 58th revision (PDF), read directly.
• Business Travel News, "DOT: August U.S. Air Cancellations, Complaints Again Increase" (Oct 26, 2026): businesstravelnews.com, used for August 2026 complaint counts (blocked our reader; read from a search-engine copy Oct 31, 2026).
• Not readable directly on Oct 31, 2026 (HTTP 403 to our reader): DOT's File a Consumer Complaint and Air Travel Complaints pages, the secure.dot.gov complaint form, and the October 2026 Air Travel Consumer Report PDF. We used search-engine copies of the first three (read the same day) and the trade-press report above for the fourth.