The U.S. passenger flight cancellation rate ticked up in March, continuing the trend of year-over-year increases that started in December 2025, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's latest Air Travel Consumer Report.
U.S. carriers in March operated about 655,600 flights, down from 657,400 operated a year prior. The cancellation rate was 2.9 percent, up from 1.1 percent in March 2025 and 2.3 percent in February 2026.
Domestic airlines with the lowest March cancellation rates were Southwest Airlines (1.6 percent), Allegiant Air (1.6 percent) and Alaska Airlines network (1.7 percent). Networks include branded codeshare partners.
The U.S. carriers with the highest March cancellation rates were Spirit Airlines (10.4 percent), Delta Air Lines network (3.9 percent) and American Airlines network (3.2 percent).
In March, domestic carriers handled nearly 39.8 million bags and had a mishandled baggage rate of 0.55 percent, higher than the 0.48 percent reported in March 2025 and the 0.51 percent from February 2026.
DOT in March received 8,571 complaints, with 70.3 percent against U.S. carriers, 24.9 percent against foreign carriers and 4.9 percent against travel agencies. The subcategories with the most complaints were for refunds (2,908), followed by flight schedule (1,785) and baggage (1,100).
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