The Best and Worst US Airlines for Luggage Damage Revealed

Image: A busy airport baggage claim area. (photo via kyolshin/iStock Editorial/Getty Images Plus)
Image: A busy airport baggage claim area. (photo via kyolshin/iStock Editorial/Getty Images Plus)
Lacey Pfalz
by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 1:49 PM ET, Wed September 22, 2021

A new report by LuggageHero found the best and worst airlines for damaged or missing luggage this year.

Using data from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Mishandled Baggage in Air Travel Consumer Reports for the first six months of 2021, the report found that 692,884 pieces of luggage had been lost or mishandled. This number comes out of the 160 million bags that were checked in the same period.

The worst airline for mishandled or lost baggage was Envoy Air, while the best was Allegiant Air.

The ranking for how the US airlines handled luggage from best to worst is as follows:

- Allegiant Air
- Hawaiian Airlines
- Frontier Airlines
- Endeavor Airlines
- Southwest Airlines
- Delta Air Lines
- Spirit Airlines
- United Airlines
- Skywest Airlines
- Horizon Air
- Jetblue Airways
- PSA Airlines
- Republic Airways
- Alaska Airlines
- Mesa Airlines
- American Airlines
- Envoy Air

What happens if you receive your luggage and it's damaged, or if it gets lost? You can call the airline and report it right away while you're still at the airport; if you received damaged luggage, take photos as proof.

Either way, you should file a report about the damaged or lost luggage and can be compensated for its value.

Domestic air travel rules state that the airline can compensate you up to $3,500 for lost or damaged luggage.


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Lacey Pfalz

Lacey Pfalz

Associate Editor

Lacey Pfalz is Associate Editor at TravelPulse. She's a passionate advocate of responsible travel and believes the best travel experiences happen outside of a planned itinerary. Lacey currently lives in rural Wisconsin. She can be reached at [email protected].

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