The U.S. government received 4,176 complaints, 1 praising airline travel in June

Air traveler complaints to the federal government rose nearly 18 percent in June from the previous month, as flight cancellations and other disruptions increased, the Department of Transportation said Friday.

The DOT received 4,176 complaints for air service in June, more than 55% of them with refunds. He also received praise, but did not immediately say what airline or topic it was.

Airlines struggled with staff shortages this summer, as a result of increased demand for air travel that exceeded their expectations. Prior to the pandemic, airlines had urged thousands of employees to retire or leave to cut costs.

Ten U.S. airlines canceled 1.6 percent of the 573,779 domestic flights they scheduled in June, nearly double the rate compared to May, the DOT said. The one-off rate fell to 74.6%, from 86.2% the previous month.

Hawaiian Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Alaska Airlines had the best spot rates in June, with 87.7%, 86.8% and 80.7%, respectively. Allegiant Air had the lowest one-time arrival rate of the 10 airlines with 56.6%, followed by Southwest Airlines with 62.4% and JetBlue Airways with 65.1%.

American Airlines came in fourth with a time of 74.3%, with Spirit Airlines at 74.1%, United Airlines at 73.9% and Frontier Airlines at 69.5%.

Dallas-based Southwest had a couple of technology bugs in June that contributed to the cancellation and delay of flights.

DOT data does not cover the collapse in late July and early August in Spirit after the airline canceled more than 2,800 flights during a period of bad weather, technological problems and staff shortages. American also canceled hundreds of flights in early August after bad weather in downtown Dallas / Fort Worth International Airport combined with staff shortages.

Earlier this week, American said it suspended plans to close a pilot training center in Charlotte, North Carolina, due to the need for more pilots to cope with rising demand for travel.