Why are the airlines so bad right now?

Airline issues, like not having enough staff. Mechanical issues and delays may be compounded by staffing shortages. The Federal Aviation Administration is also experiencing staffing issues. While a shortage isn't to blame, the agency is still managing backups in training new air traffic controllers quickly enough.



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For the third year in a row, Hawaiian Airlines scored the top spot as the most reliable U.S. carrier across these metrics. It had the lowest cancellation rate (fewer than 1% of its scheduled flights were canceled) and bumped just four passengers out of the nearly 10 million people it carried in 2022.

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When a flight delay occurs, you are entitled to assistance and a choice between rerouting, reimbursement, or rebooking. If you arrive at your destination more than 3 hours after your scheduled arrival time, you are entitled to the same reimbursement, rerouting, and rebooking structure as a denied boarding.

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Air rage generally covers both behavior of a passenger or crew member that is likely caused by physiological or psychological stresses associated with air travel, and when a passenger or crew member becomes unruly, angry, or violent on an aircraft during a flight. Excessive consumption of alcohol is often a cause.

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Your chances of being involved in a fatal plane crash are incredibly small – around 1 in 11 million, according to Harvard researchers. While your odds of being in a plane accident are about 1 in 1.2 million, survivability rates are about 95.7% – so the odds are with you no matter how you look at it.

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There are several reasons why flights may be canceled, including bad weather, air traffic restrictions, lack of airplane or staff, technical problems, and low passenger numbers.

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So what's creating such horrid air travel vibes? One possibility is that there are more travelers now than in 2019, but fewer commercial aircraft are flying, meaning passengers have fewer chances to reroute or get on the next flight when delays happen, leaving them stuck in limbo longer.

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For domestic flights in the U.S., airlines have to pay you 200% of the value of your one-way ticket up to $775 if you arrive at your destination one to two hours past your originally scheduled itinerary or 400% of the one-way ticket price, up to $1,550 if your arrival delay is longer than two hours.

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The airline is required to compensate you for a canceled flight if you were notified less than 14 days before your original scheduled departure date. However, compensation is not required if the airline proves that extraordinary circumstances (e.g., weather) caused the cancellation.

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Passengers who are denied boarding involuntarily due to oversales are entitled to compensation that is based on the price of their ticket, the length of time that they are delayed in getting to their destination because of being denied boarding, and whether their flight is a domestic flight or an international flight ...

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Cancelled Flight – A consumer is entitled to a refund if the airline cancelled a flight, regardless of the reason, and the consumer chooses not to travel.

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All major airlines — except for Frontier — will cover a hotel stay and transportation to the hotel in the event of an overnight cancellation. Six of 10 will rebook on another airline at no extra cost. Just two airlines offer credits or travel vouchers if a cancellation causes a wait of at least three hours.

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Once passengers have boarded the aircraft, the compensation structure is $100 in credit for a delay between three and five hours, $175 in credit for a delay between five and six hours, or a $250 credit for a delay of six hours or more.

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BTS data from July 2021 to June 2022 shows Hawaiian performed best of all U.S. airlines with just a 0.81% cancellation rate. Delta took second place again — with a cancellation rate of 1.63%. Meanwhile, merger partners JetBlue (3.81%) and Spirit Airlines (4.11%) canceled the highest percentage of all flights.

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Lufthansa Airlines – 3.69 per cent, or 2,521 cancelled. Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) – 3.4 per cent, or 812 cancelled flights. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines – 2.64 per cent, or 628 cancelled flights. Germany's Eurowings – 2.47 per cent, or 835 cancelled flights.

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Frontier Airlines has had the worst on-time arrival performance so far in 2023. Just 65.41% of Frontier flights arrived on time from January through April 2023. The next-worst airlines were Hawaiian Airlines (66.39%) and Spirit Airlines (66.97%).

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