A method and an apparatus for maintaining a quality of service (QoS) for a multi-media packet data service in a transport network is provided. The method comprises determining a first packet loss indication for a first flow of QoS traffic packets. The method further comprises determining a second packet loss indication for a second flow of QoS traffic packets, wherein the determination of the first packet loss indication for the first flow of QoS traffic packets is independent from the determination of the second packet loss indication for the second flow of QoS traffic packets. The method further comprises determining whether to drop the first flow of QoS traffic packets based on the first packet loss indication or to drop the second flow of QoS traffic packets based on the second packet loss indication. By using per-flow independent packet loss statistics to determine whether that flow should be dropped and gradually dropping such QoS flows having the most impact on a desired QoS performance, a reduced number of QoS flows may be dropped to recover a data transport network from congestion.