Missing In Action
Lost luggage is a huge problem when it comes to air travel—and according to some data, the issue is worse than ever. A recent study found that 1 in 4 travelers have experienced lost bags, while it’s even more common for bags to come back damaged. Though most lost luggage is eventually returned, 24% of fliers never got their bags back.
In the same study, the numbers were crunched over which US airlines lost the most bags. We counted down the results here from best to worst, and also took a look at which other international airlines were huge culprits in the fight against lost baggage. The results are surprising—and might make you want to switch to carry-ons.
US Airline #10: Frontier Airlines
Frontier came in as the tenth most likely airline to lose luggage. Out of 1,000 checked bags, Frontier lost an average of 4.2 bags. A big zero would be better—but considering the worst culprit on this list outdoes that number by quite a lot, 4.2 isn’t so bad. Part of that may come from people’s reluctance to check bags, as Frontier has the highest baggage fee of airlines on this list: $54—though they also charge $54 per carry-on!
Colin Cooke Photo, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
US Airline #9: Southwest Airlines
Southwest set itself apart from other US airlines with its combination of low-cost and high-efficiency services. Or at least, it attempted to. The study found that Southwest lost an average of 4.4 bags per 1,000. But when you consider that, until recently, Southwest offered free checked bags, that’s really not a bad average.
Aero Icarus, CC BY-SA 2.0,Wikimedia Commons
US Airline #8: Hawaiian Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines boasts a respectable average of 4.7 bags lost per 1,000. But now that they’ve changed their baggage policy to allow surfboards, bicycles, and other sports equipment as standard checked bags under their fee structure, we wonder if their average for damaged items might go up.
Musashi1600, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
US Airline #7: Republic Airways
Republic Airways is a contractor airline that operates under the American Eagle, Delta Connection, and United Express brands, averaging 900 daily flights to more than 80 destinations throughout the US, Canada, and the Caribbean. Falling on the lower end of the scale, they average 4.9 lost bags per 1,000.
Cory W. Watts, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
US Airline #6: SkyWest Airlines
Like Republic, SkyWest operates as American Eagle, Delta Connection, and United Express, as well as Alaska SkyWest. And like their fellow contractor airline, they lost about 5.1 bags per 1,000.
ERIC SALARD, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
US Airline #5: Alaska Airlines
Falling firmly in the middle of this list is Alaska Airlines, with 5.4 lost bags per 1,000. It’s definitely worth noting that besides Southwest, which until recently had free checked baggage, Alaska has the lowest baggage fees, at just $35 for the first checked bag.
Adam Moreira, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
US Airline #4: United Airlines
Here’s where the list starts getting dicey. While United Airlines charges just $40 for a checked bag—not bad, all things considered—there is a dramatic jump in bags lost. United was found to lose 6.4 bags, one full bag more than its predecessor on this list, per 1,000.
4300streetcar, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
US Airline #3: PSA Airlines
PSA used to be known as Pacific Southwest Airlines, but it’s now owned entirely by the American Airlines Group, operated as American Eagle, and headquartered out of Dayton, Ohio. They’ve been in the news recently as they announced in January 2025 that they’d be moving their HQ to Charlotte, NC—only to suffer their first crash one day later, crashing into a Black Hawk Helicopter on its descent into Reagan Airport.
PSA Airlines lose an average 6.6 bags per 1,000.
SDASM Archives, Wikimedia Commons
US Airline #2: Envoy Air
Yet another American Airlines subsidiary, Envoy Air was found to have lost an average of 7.5 items per 1,000 bags in the study. Their baggage fee schedule matches that of their parent company, meaning that they charge $35 per checked bag.
Aaron Davis, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
The US Airline Most Likely To Lose Your Luggage: American Airlines
American Airlines operates the most daily flights in the US, running almost 6,800 flights per day. With an operation that large, it’s an uphill battle to maintain effective logistics systems—and the customers come out with the short end of the stick when it comes to lost luggage. American Airlines loses an average of 8.1 bags per 1,000 checked items. That’s almost twice as much as Frontier, which was on the lower end of this list.
While American is the airline most likely to lose your luggage among US carriers, where do other, international airlines stand? Here are some to avoid when booking your next big trip—and some tips for how to avoid losing your baggage.
Aero Icarus, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
The UK Airlines That Lose The Most Luggage
A study looking into Google keywords focusing on searches related to lost, delayed, or missing baggage for major UK airlines found that British Airways had the highest volume of searches, at 6,938. To put that into context, the next two most searched airlines were KLM and easyJet, at 1,372 and 1,208, respectively.
Though keyword searches do not equate to actual lost luggage cases, British Airways was also ranked as the UK airline likeliest to lose luggage in a similar data exercise.
Steve Lynes, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
The Canadian Airlines That Lose The Most Luggage
A study looking into complaints of lost luggage in North America zeroed in on three Canadian airlines that received a cavalcade of complaints about lost luggage. The highest on the list—likely not surprising any Canadians reading this—was Air Canada. Following AC was Flair, the ultra-low-cost Canadian carrier, and SunWing, which serves a variety of warm destinations in the Caribbean, Mexico, Florida, and Central America. WestJet and its dearly departed budget carrier Swoop rounded out the list.
Stevenhe1997, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
The International Airlines That Lose The Most Luggage
While KLM grabbed the number two spot in the study that found British Airways to be the worst culprit for lost luggage, other European carriers also found themselves at notable positions in the Hall of Shame, including Emirates, Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines, and Qatar Airways.
According to another site that tracks people talking about losing their luggage on social media and other websites, Air India, IndiGo, South African, Iberia, and Kenya Airways have high probabilities of losing bags.
Adam Moreira, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
The Most Surprising Part Of Studies Regarding Lost Luggage
One surprising thing about looking at studies analyzing airlines in the US, Canada, UK, and internationally, is that budget or discount airlines were almost nowhere to be found. Though some made appearances, it was full-service carriers who topped almost every list. This can likely be traced to the fact that many budget airlines charge exorbitant fees for checked bags, which customers avoid, lightening the load on their logistics and staff.
This also has to do with the number-one, iron-clad way to avoid lost luggage…
The Best Way To Avoid Lost Luggage
Experts agree that the best way to avoid losing your luggage is to simply never check it at all, and to opt for carry-on bags instead. However, that’s not always possible, so they advise the use of Air Tags to track luggage. If you’ll be visiting a larger airport, make sure to show up early to check your bags to ensure that they have time to get on the plane. Remove old tags and stickers from previous flights and airlines.
And, in case disaster does strike, get travel insurance that covers lost baggage.
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