Air Transat is the least dissed domestic airline in 2022 by consumers at just over two (2.2) complaints per 100 flights flown, according to the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA), which has published a new dashboard that tallies the grievances. At the more dubious end of the scale, Flair Airlines racked up the most moans per century at 13.7.

Air Canada, the country’s largest airline (and therefore likely to accumulate a greater volume of complaints) was second best per 100 with 3.6 complaints. The rest of the list included WestJet (4.9), Sunwing (8.6), and Swoop (12.6).

All the airlines notably fared less well during the summer period when staffing shortages at the carriers and airports caused chaotic scenes of stranded passengers in the media, and were shared anecdotally among travellers.

From July 1 to Sept. 30, Flair and Swoop generated 18 and 18.5 complaints per 100 respectively, while Transat was still the best at 2.9. The others: AC (6.3), WestJet (6.0) and Sunwing (9.3).

(Note: Figures include the second and third quarters of the 2022; Q1 was not counted).

The CTA says it will release its complaints report quarterly, noting that data is solely based on information submitted by passengers and does not reflect whether airlines met regulatory requirements or whether the complaints (which do not include accessibility) were resolved during the CTA’s review process. It further notes that 97% of those complaints are resolved informally through facilitation or mediation and do not reach a formal adjudication process.

Foreign carriers

Meanwhile, more than 25 carriers made the list of international carriers (based on at least one complaint) with Qatar Airways clocking in with a whopping 24.1 complaints per 100 flights flown overall (and 29.9 in the summer period).

Other high-flyers scoring double-digit complaints included Turkish Airlines (14.7), Air India (13.7), Royal Air Maroc (13.3), Etihad (12.9), TAP Air Portugal (11.9), and EgyptAir (10.7).