It’s the worst-case scenario that every traveler fears when checking a bag. What if the airline loses your suitcase en route? That leaves you to salvage the remainder of your trip with none of your clothes or personal belongings.
There’s not much you can do to ensure baggage handlers do their job correctly, but you can certainly choose to fly an airline with a stellar record for reuniting its passengers with their bags. So which airline reports the lowest number of lost and mishandled baggage?
Which Airline Loses the Least Luggage?
Of 17 major U.S. airlines, Allegiant Air earned the top spot with just 1.75 reports of lost or mishandled bags for every 1,000 passengers. That’s according to a new report from luggage storage service Luggagehero, based on 2019 data from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Related: What to Do When Your Checked Bag Is Lost
In second place, Frontier Airlines lost just over four bags per every 1,000, closely followed by Hawaiian, Southwest, and Endeavor Air.
Travelers might be surprised to learn that Spirit Airlines placed 5th with about five bags per 1,000 passengers, ahead of Delta, Alaska, and JetBlue. Meanwhile, United comes in at number 12, and American finishes second to last with over 8 bags for every 1,000.
In last place was Envoy Air, the regional carrier of American Airlines, reporting 9.53 lost or mishandled bags for every 1,000 passengers. That’s a fairly significant drop from the previous year when Envoy had 6.76 incidents per 1,000 passengers.
Related: The U.S. Airlines Most Likely to Lose Your Luggage
Passengers who rely on wheelchairs or mobility scooters should look to Allegiant. The Vegas-based budget carrier lost or mishandled just .49% of its wheelchairs and scooters, while American Eagle’s PSA Airlines lost the most of any carrier with 3.56%.
Something else you can do to lower your odds of losing a bag? Avoid flying in June, which averages 7.07 lost or mishandled bags, the most of any other time of year. Once-a-year holiday travelers will be pleased to learn that November sees the fewest lost bags, with just 4.67 on average out of 1,000.
Of the 485 million bags checked last year, 2.8 million of them were lost.
You can view the complete report at LuggageHero.com.
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