Complaints against US carriers surged 70% in April, the same month of the now infamous United Airlines dragging incident.
According to a US Department of Transportation report there were 1,909 complaints compared to 1,123 complaints in the same month last year.
Although flight delays and cancellations were up in April, the furore around the United incident likely gave fliers more confidence to speak out and an expectation any complaints would be dealt with more promptly.
"A lot of people have realised that things are bad and that they can complain about it," said Paul Hudson, founder of Flyersrights.org.
The highest number of complainers (324) flew with American Airlines, followed by Delta Air Lines with 297.
Budget carrier Spirit Airline had the highest complaint rate, with 7.2 for every 100,000 passengers.
Complaints about overbooking more than doubled but so did common gripes like flight delay problems and cancellations.
