Airline Complaints Up Sevenfold

Consumers filed 6,822 complaints about U.S. airlines with the government in August, nearly a sevenfold increase over the same month a year ago, the Department of Transportation announced today.

Northwest Airlines had the worst record of the carriers examined, accounting for 1,585 of the complaints, while Continental Airlines ranked second with 1,343 and Eastern Airlines third with 913. In August, 1986, the department registered 1,041 complaints against American carriers.