Airline passenger complaint rate was up in 2012

    The Associated Press

    Airline passengers filed 11,445 complaints with the Transportation Department last year, an increase of more than one-fifth from 2011.

    The rate of complaints per 100,000 passengers also rose, from 1.19 in 2011 to 1.43 last year.

    A breakdown of that rate for the 14 largest U.S. carriers from a report being released Monday on airline quality by researchers at Purdue University and Wichita State University. The first rate is for 2012; the second for 2011.

    —Air Tran: 0.91; 0.72

    —Alaska: 0.51; 0.48

    —American: 1.80; 1.46

    —American Eagle: 1.27; 1.45

    —Delta: 0.73; 1.23

    —ExpressJet: 1.07

    —Frontier: 1.05; 0.76

    —Hawaiian: 0.89; 0.70

    —JetBlue: 0.79; 1.08

    —SkyWest: 0.88; 0.73

    —Southwest: 0.25; 0.32

    —United: 4.24; 2.21

    —US Airways: 1.74; 1.91

    —Virgin America: 1.50

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    2011 rates were not available for ExpressJet and Virgin America.