Bags are lost or delayed on a daily basis in air travel. Unfortunately, many travelers have horror stories about their lost baggage. However, some airlines are better than others when it comes to mishandled baggage. For your reference, we have provided the mishandled luggage statistics for the major U.S. airlines below. The statistics encompass reports received from passengers regarding lost, damaged, delayed or stolen baggage. The data is taken from DOT’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (Office of Airline Information).
| 2013 Lost Bags | 2013 Lost Bags (per 1,000) | 2014 Lost Bags(YTD) | 2014 Lost Bags (per 1,000)(YTD) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airtran | 63,302 | 3.71 | 25,549 | 4.94 |
| Alaska Airlines | 53,318 | 2.88 | 30,011 | 2.65 |
| American Airlines | 205,060 | 2.94 | 158,663 | 4.20 |
| Delta Air Lines | 221,724 | 2.19 | 154,888 | 2.48 |
| Frontier Airlines | 21,921 | 2.14 | 11,331 | 1.80 |
| Frontier Airlines | 21,921 | 2.14 | 11,331 | 1.80 |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 20,791 | 2.25 | 12,134 | 2.20 |
| JetBlue Airlines | 51,040 | 1.91 | 33,160 | 2.09 |
| Southwest Airlines | 439,323 | 3.72 | 329,599 | 4.43 |
| United Airlines | 236,326 | 3.47 | 149,995 | 3.81 |
| US Airways | 130,138 | 2.52 | 116,117 | 3.74 |
| Virgin America | 6,031 | 0.97 | 3,609 | 0.98 |
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