The Airlines Most Likely to Lose Your Luggage, According to Report

Plus, those who are least likely to mishandle luggage.

Flying isn’t exactly hassle-free. Especially now when mandates, and requirements change in the blink of an eye. But the pre-pandemic problems with flying are also constantly nagging at passengers. Airlines often lose luggage. Passengers often get their bag in a haggard condition that suggests something went terribly wrong. In fact, according to Lost Luggage Report 2021 by Luggage Hero, more than 1.25 million bags were mishandled by U.S. airlines in the second half of 2021.

The mishandling of luggage worsened by 80.6% compared to the first six months of 2021, although the number of checked bags also increased. More than 220 million bags were checked in the second half of the year, while 160 million were checked in the first half, an increase of 37.5%. Almost 700,000 were mishandled in the first half of 2021. The increases in bookings were largely due to loosening COVID restrictions, and seasonal bookings in the summer and over the holidays.  

The report also ranked airlines based on how well they took care of passenger baggage. “LuggageHero analyzed airlines by luggage performance based on U.S. Department of Transportation’s figures about Mishandled Baggage in Air Travel Consumer Reports from January 2021 to June 2021.” It looked at passenger reports of lost, damaged, or pilfered luggage. 

Best Airlines For Luggage

Vegas-based low-cost carrier Allegiant Air is the least likely airline to lose or damage your luggage, according to the report. In the last six months of 2021, it mishandled 1.85 bags per 1,000. This is the fourth year it has been ranked the safest airline for luggage. Hawaiian and Frontier are the next best options if you want your bags to safely make it to the destination with you.

Frontier, Southwest, Spirit, United, and Jetblue are somewhat in the middle, while things are worse for Delta and Horizon, which mishandled almost 6 bags per 1,000 handled.

Worst Airlines For Luggage

Envoy Air, a subsidiary of American Airlines, is the worst when it comes to handling luggage, according to the report. Its parent company isn’t that great either—both came in at the very bottom of this report. Envoy mishandled 9.04 bags per 1,000 from July to December 2021, and American Airlines followed closely behind with 8.62 bags per 1,000.

There were two other fascinating discoveries from this report. December is apparently the worst month for your bags. American Airlines topped the charts here: the report claims it mishandled 18.8% of all the bags that were lost, stolen, or damaged in the month. On the contrary, September is the safest month for bags, followed by November.