| Dreamstime.com
We all fly and we all have complaints – everything from abysmal customer service on the phone, on the ground and in the air to delayed, canceled or just miserable flights. But how many of us actually make a written, coherent complaint to the airline – an absolute necessity if compensation is the aim – as opposed to moaning to colleagues, family and friends and then forgetting all about it?
Step up Dobbs Ferry strategist and wordsmith Bruce Jonas, who has identified why we usually don’t complain in the first place, what we get wrong when we do, and founded Airline Complaint Hub to show us how to do it.
Bruce, thanks so much for talking to the Westfair Business Journal. What’s your background, and what problems have you personally experienced that led you to start Airline Complaint Hub?
“My whole career has been in creative communications, as a copywriter, marketing strategist, admissions essay coach and more. When Lufthansa canceled my flight a while ago, they gave me the runaround. Then last year, a cousin told me she got no sleep on a red-eye, because her screen went bright white and wouldn’t turn off. I asked what compensation she wanted and she said, ‘Why bother?’ I got mad that airlines have conditioned people not to even say anything. So I decided to use my background to write people’s complaints and make it easy for them to get what they’re owed.”
When did you launch, and what prior experience best prepared you for this, would you say?
“I had that conversation with my cousin in June 2025 and launched in October that year.”
Before launching, how did you validate demand?
“While I was building the site, everyone I spoke to had an airline complaint they never submitted, because they didn’t think they could write it out – but they all told me about in painstaking detail. It confirmed my idea that people would complain if it was easy. That’s why they can just speak into my site and I’ll turn that into an effective written complaint and link them right to the page on the airline’s site where they submit it.”
What makes Airline Complaint Hub meaningfully different from other complaint/claim services or “templates” in terms of outcome, speed, pricing or approach?
“For the price of an airport coffee, you get a customized letter geared to compensation. The only other option in the U.S. is to take the time to do it yourself. In Europe, airlines owe fixed compensation amounts for delayed flights based on length of the delay and of the flight. There are companies that submit your claim for you, but they take about 30% of the money you get back, which can be hundreds of dollars, instead of $7.99.”
You’re based in Dobbs Ferry. Since your business is location-independent, what keeps you rooted locally?
“The Westchester County Department of Economic Development accepted me into Element 46, an accelerator for tech start-ups that it sponsors. It was like getting an MBA in entrepreneurship in three months – free, thanks to the county. And we love the combination of the small town feeling in Dobbs Ferry and being 35 minutes to midtown. You can’t find that anywhere else.”
What did it cost to get from idea to launch (website/product build, legal, marketing, tools) and how did you fund it – bootstrapped, savings, revenue-funded, outside investment?
“The main cost has been time, not money. Launching a digital platform costs less and is 10 times easier than just a few years ago. But it takes time to strategize and learn the new tools.”
Is it just you today, or do you use contractors/employees? What functions are in-house versus outsourced?
“I started off by outsourcing the tech, then realized there are new AI tools I can use to do it myself, so I took that in-house. Producing content for the site and social media is very labor intensive, so I’m currently looking for an intern to help me with that.”
Back to that $7.99 price point (which seems) intentionally accessible. How did you, er, land on it?
“The price is low because the barriers to complaining are high. It takes time, maybe you’re uncomfortable writing and skeptical it’d do any good. I want to empower people to complain so I don’t want price to be a barrier. A customer wrote me just this morning, ‘Thank you for this lovely service, at the right price point and hassle-free.’”
At a high level, what needs to be true for the business to be profitable – volume, upsells, repeat customers, partnerships, etc.?
“Volume first to demonstrate value, then I’ll look to partnerships and expansion into other industries, for example, Cable Company Complaint Hub.”
Where are the biggest costs – customer acquisition, tools, support time, refunds?
“Customer acquisition, customer acquisition and customer acquisition. It’s difficult to get noticed and my efforts now are focused on cost-effective ways to do that.”
You say the letters are engineered to “match the language airlines respond to.” What does that mean in practice?
“Airlines know what types of problems they need to reimburse people for. We address those in an appropriate tone. This is a professional letter that’s not about ranting and raving but about getting compensation. Some ways to do that are better than others.”
Without naming-and-shaming if you prefer: Who tends to be best at resolving issues, and who’s toughest?
“My worst experiences (note the plural) have been with Lufthansa. But if you look at the complaint statistics, it’s clear you get what you pay for.”
Your money-back guarantee: Is it about satisfaction with the letter itself, or the airline’s result?
“The letter itself, but if a customer thinks the letter didn’t help them get what they wanted from the airline, they can get a refund.”
And the $64,000 question: Roughly what percentage of customers request refunds?
“None yet.”
