The US passenger flight cancellation rate in May decreased year over year to 0.9% compared with 1.1% in May 2025. That was even with the rate reported in April 2026, according to the latest U.S. Department of Transportation Air Travel Consumer Report. 

May is the first month in which the year-over-year US passenger flight cancellation rate declined since October 2025. US carriers operated about 670,900 flights in May, up from the 660,000 operated in the same month last year. 

Domestic carriers with the lowest May cancellation rates were Allegiant Air (0.2%), JetBlue (0.2%) and Southwest Airlines (0.4%).

Airlines with the highest May cancellation rates were Spirit Airlines (14.1%), American Airlines network (1.5%) and Delta Air Lines (1.1%). Networks include branded codeshare partners. Spirit went out of business in early May.

In May, US carriers handled about 40.4 million bags for a mishandled baggage rate of 0.42%, lower than the 0.49% reported a year earlier, but higher than the 0.36% reported in April 2026.

The number of complaints filed in May decreased to 6,448 compared with 7,278 received in April. About 62% were lodged against US carriers, 31% against foreign carriers and nearly 7% against travel agencies. The subcategories with the most complaints were refunds (1,881), flight schedule (1,225) and baggage (954).