American Airlines tops US baggage mishandling rankings

American Airlines had the highest rate of mishandled checked bags among major US carriers in the first half of 2026. Analysis of US Department of Transportation data found more than one million checked bags were mishandled across reporting airlines during the period.

Research by Global Work & Travel, based on the government's latest Air Travel Consumer Report, covered 1,052,493 mishandled bags out of more than 213 million enplaned between January and June. That equates to about 5,815 mishandled bags a day.

American Airlines recorded 251,976 mishandled bags, or 0.73 for every 100 enplaned bags. Envoy Air followed at 0.72, while United Airlines posted 0.66.

Further down the table, SkyWest Airlines reported 0.55 mishandled bags per 100, Republic Airways and Alaska Airlines each recorded 0.53, and Frontier Airlines came in at 0.51. Spirit Airlines posted 0.47, PSA Airlines 0.44 and Delta Air Lines 0.38.

Among the better performers, Southwest Airlines recorded 0.32 mishandled bags per 100 enplaned, JetBlue Airways reported 0.31 and Allegiant Air had the lowest rate at 0.12.

The figures also showed an improvement from the same period a year earlier. Across reporting airlines, the baggage mishandling rate fell to 0.49 per 100 bags in the first half of 2026 from 0.52 in 2025. The total number of mishandled bags dropped to 1,052,493 from 1,152,475.

June data pointed in the same direction. Airlines handled more than 39.3 million checked bags during the month and mishandled 194,063, down from 221,543 in June 2025.

Baggage rankings

The ranking was based on reporting operating carriers rather than marketing brands, a distinction that can matter on regional routes. American Airlines had both the highest rate in the table and the largest total number of mishandled bags during the six-month period.

Monthly figures highlighted the spread between airlines. In June alone, American Airlines mishandled 52,460 bags, compared with 32,516 at United, 30,965 at Southwest and 24,119 at Delta.

The government report also tracked wider service disruption. Across reporting marketing carriers, 85,998 scheduled flight operations were cancelled in the first six months of 2026, or 2.23% of scheduled operations, up from 1.57% in the same period of 2025.

Traveller advice

Jürgen Himmelmann, Co-founder and Chief Executive of Global Work & Travel, offered practical steps for passengers checking luggage.

"Most travellers hand over their suitcase at check-in and don't think about it again until they're standing at the baggage carousel, but there are a few things worth doing before your bag disappears down the belt. Take a clear photo of your suitcase and another of what's inside it. If your bag is delayed, damaged or goes missing, having recent photographs can make identifying it and explaining what you've lost much easier.

"I'd also avoid putting anything genuinely irreplaceable in checked luggage. Passports, medication, keys, electronics and anything you'd struggle to replace should stay with you in your carry-on where possible. One of the simplest things travellers can do is remove old airline baggage stickers and tags before every trip. You don't want outdated routing information sitting alongside the label that's supposed to get your suitcase to this week's destination.

"It's also worth putting your contact details inside the suitcase rather than relying entirely on the external baggage tag. If the outside label is damaged or removed, airport or airline staff still have a way of identifying who the bag belongs to. For anyone heading abroad for weeks or months rather than taking a short holiday, I'd go one step further and keep enough essentials in your carry-on to manage the first couple of days without your checked bag. A delayed suitcase is frustrating on a holiday, but it can become a much bigger problem when you're arriving in a new country to work, study or start a longer trip," Himmelmann said.

He also cautioned against reading too much into one metric when booking travel.

"The lesson isn't that travellers should choose an airline based on one statistic alone. Price, route, connections and schedule will usually matter far more. What the data does show is that things can go wrong even when you've planned the trip carefully. Knowing what you'd do if your suitcase didn't arrive or your flight was cancelled is just as important as planning what you're going to do when you get there," Himmelmann said.

The baggage analysis used the Department of Transportation's January to June 2026 mishandled baggage table, which measures the number of bags mishandled per 100 bags enplaned.