US airlines operated the lowest number of flights in a decade in 2011 (Image Dipity.com)

The US Department of Transportation (DOT) reported a three per cent increase last year in the number of complaints filed against airlines despite the nation’s largest carriers ending the year with one of their best records for getting passengers and their bags to their destinations on time.

According to DOT, just under 80 per cent of flights arrived within 15 minutes of their scheduled times in 2011, slightly down on the twelve months prior but still the fourth best result in 17 years. For an eighth consecutive year, Hawaiian Airlines proved the country’s most prompt, with an average on-time performance of 92.8 per cent.

Overall, 3.39 out of every 10,000 passengers experienced mishandled baggage, the lowest rate on record, whilst only 0.81 per 10,000 passengers were bumped from flights, the lowest rate in a decade.

With the country’s major airlines operating the fewest number of flights since 2002, aviation analysts have attributed the rise in complaints, to 9,425, to fewer flights and more crowded planes.