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An August report shows one of the largest air carriers out of Des Moines International Airport--ranks poorly in two categories.
The U.S. Department of Transportation's Air Travel Consumer Report shows Allegiant Air ranked last out of all 17 major US airline carriers in on-time arrivals from January to June.
Allegiant flights arrived on time 59% of the time in June, more than 20 percentage points less than Enjoy Air, SkyWest Airlines and Horizon Airlines, which ranked first through third.
There is some good news in the federal report for Allegiant. Despite trailing other carriers in on-time arrivals and cancellations, Allegiant had the lowest rate of mishandled baggage and the second-lowest rate of mishandling wheelchairs and scooters. The airline also reported zero passengers were involuntarily denied boarding due to flights being oversold from January to June.
On Wednesday, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller joined a bipartisan group of state attorneys who called on Congress to authorize them to enforce consumer protection laws on the airline industry.
The joint letter submitted to Congress by Miller and other state attorney generals said the U.S. Department of Transportation has "failed to respond and to provide appropriate recourse" for complaints against the airline industry. Miller and the group of attorney generals wants Congress to change federal law to allow states to handle airline complaints.
The Iowa attorney general’s office said it’s unclear how long it will take for Congress to act on the request.
This summer travel season, thousands of air travelers experienced flight cancellations and delays due to staffing shortages, air traffic control issues and severe weather events.