Most checked bags make it to the baggage carousel just fine. Across the airline industry in the United States, about one in every 187 bags was lost or damaged over the last 2 years. But, you have higher odds of your bag getting mishandled on certain airlines.
Fly American, and your odds are one in 138. Fly Allegiant, and they're one in 747. Our research team analyzed 2 years of Department of Transportation data on mishandled luggage for major U.S. airlines, and if you're booked on one of the three carriers at the top of this list, think twice before you check a bag.
In this article
The Shortcut
American mishandles one in every 138 checked bags, the worst rate of any major U.S. airline.
Size isn't the excuse: Southwest handles more bags than American and mishandles them far less often.
Allegiant performs more than five times better than American, likely because its fees push passengers to pack carry-on only.
The Three Airlines Most Likely to Mishandle Your Bag
1. American Airlines: One in 138 bags
American mishandled about 1.6 million bags over the last 2 years, more than any other airline. Its mishandling rate of 0.72% was also the highest in the industry.
2. United Airlines: One in 146 bags
United lost or damaged just over 1 million bags, a rate of 0.69%. Together, American and United account for more than half of the 5.1 million bags U.S. airlines mishandled in that time frame.
3. Alaska Airlines: One in 181 bags
Alaska mishandled about 307,000 bags, a rate of 0.55%. It's the only airline outside the top two to lose or damage more than one in every 200 bags it handled.
Bigger Airlines Aren't Automatically Worse
It's easy to assume the biggest airlines lose the most bags simply because they handle the most. The numbers say otherwise.
Southwest handled more checked bags than any other airline, more than 241 million, and kept its mishandling rate at 0.40%. That's below the industry average of 0.53%.
Delta handled a similar volume to American, about 204 million bags compared to American's 222 million. American's mishandling rate was still about 1.7 times higher. Delta also has a guarantee for SkyMiles Members that you'll get your checked bag in 20 minutes or less on domestic flights.
The Middle of the Pack
These four airlines all landed below the industry average:
Hawaiian Airlines: 0.48%, or one in 209 bags
Delta Air Lines: 0.43%, or one in 230 bags
Frontier Airlines: 0.41%, or one in 247 bags
Southwest Airlines: 0.40%, or one in 247 bags
The Airlines With the Best Baggage Records
Allegiant Air: One in 747 bags
Allegiant mishandled just 0.13% of bags, far and away the lowest rate of any major airline. Its business model likely plays a big role.
Allegiant lets passengers bring one personal item for free and charges baggage fees for everything else, including carry-ons. Passengers tend to pack light, which means fewer bags for the airline to handle in the first place.
JetBlue Airways: One in 302 bags
JetBlue had the second-lowest rate at 0.33%.
Your Best Defense Is Not Checking a Bag
The surest way to avoid a lost bag is to keep it with you. A good weekender bag paired with a roomy personal item gives you plenty of packing space and you won't be forced to check a bag.
If you have to check a bag, add a luggage tracker. It lets you see where your suitcase is, and you'll have something concrete to show the airline if it goes missing.
Mishandled Luggage by Airline
Methodology
Travel Bulletin compiled government reports published via TranStats on mishandled luggage rates for major U.S. airlines for 2024 and 2025. For the airports and times of year with the worst baggage problems, read our full luggage data study.
