In this post, I’d like 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.
Tips for effectively 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. For that matter, that assumes it’s even being read at all — a lot of airline customer relations responses are written by AI nowadays.
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 EC261 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, or another senior executive. 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 flight on a domestic airline, or a flight to or from the United States. 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. (in other words, not to complain that Biscoffs were stale).
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?
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