Department of Transportation Data Reveals Which Airlines are Worst for Baggage Mishandling

Analysis of the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) most recent Air Travel Consumer Report by Global Work & Travel has revealed which airlines are most likely to mishandle your clients’ checked luggage. While most of the worst offenders are smaller affiliate airlines and budget airlines, all of the industry’s biggest players are on the list – with one legacy airline the worst offender of all.

The analysis found that reporting U.S. airlines mishandled 1,052,493 bags between January 2026 and June 2026, out of 213 million bags. This equates to about 5,815 mishandled bags every day during the first six months of the year.

This is less than in previous years. Across the reporting airlines, the baggage mishandling rate has fallen from 0.52 per 100 bags in the first half of 2025 to 0.49 in the first half of 2026.

The latest monthly figures suggest the improvement year-over-year has continued. In June, airlines handled more than 39.3 million checked bags and mishandled 194,063, compared with 221,543 during June 2025.

Here are the U.S. airlines most likely to mishandle your clients checked luggage:

1. American Airlines – Mishandled 251,976 of 34,541,265 bags, equating to 0.73 mishandled bags per 100.

2. Envoy Air – Mishandled 37,723 of 5,224,762 bags, equating to 0.72 mishandled bags per 100.

3. United Airlines – Mishandled 192,191 of 29,253,054 bags, equating to 0.66 mishandled bags per 100.

4. SkyWest Airlines – Mishandled 81,434 of 14,734,864 bags, equating to 0.55 mishandled bags per 100.

5. Republic Airways – Mishandled 25,990 of 4,887,188 bags, equating to 0.53 mishandled bags per 100.

6. Alaska Airlines – Mishandled 74,896 of 14,126,041 bags, equating to 0.53 mishandled bags per 100.

7. Frontier Airlines – Mishandled 24,733 of 4,816,542 bags, equating to 0.51 mishandled bags per 100.

8. Spirit Airlines – Mishandled 8,719 of 1,870,785 bags, equating to 0.47 mishandled bags per 100.

9. PSA Airlines – Mishandled 26,731 of 6,044,565 bags, equating to 0.44 mishandled bags per 100.

10. Delta Air Lines – Mishandled 153,022 of 40,560,183 bags, equating to 0.38 mishandled bags per 100.

11. Southwest Airlines – Mishandled 148,875 of 46,350,429 bags, equating to 0.32 mishandled bags per 100.

12. JetBlue Airways – Mishandled 22,135 of 7,188,577 bags, equating to 0.31 mishandled bags per 100.

13. Allegiant Air – Mishandled 4,068 of 3,474,622 bags, equating to 0.12 mishandled bags per 100.