In 2021, US airlines mishandled over 1.9 million luggage items, according to a recent study by Radical Storage, a company that offers luggage storage. American Airlines had the most significant number of items of baggage mishandled. Let’s investigate further.

Mishandling baggage

Through 2021, over 1.9 million luggage items were reported to be mishandled by airlines. Consumers said their luggage to be lost, stolen, or damaged while traveling.

Radical Storage analyzed airline data from the Department of Transportation and examined how frequently airlines mishandled passengers' bags. Last year, American Airlines received the most reports of mishandled baggage, with over 466,000 items of luggage reported to have been lost, stolen, or damaged.

Simple Flying contacted American Airlines regarding Radical Storage’s recent study. We have not received an answer from the carrier. We’ll keep you updated if that changes.

Southwest Airlines was revealed to be the second-worst for mishandling baggage. The low-cost operator had over 369,000 pieces of luggage reported in 2021. On the other side of the spectrum, Allegiant Air and Hawaiian Airlines had fewer reports, with 9,395 and 10,367, respectively.

Giacomo Piva, CMO, and Co-founder of Radical Storage, said,

“For many travelers, getting on a flight is one of excitement before a vacation with friends and family, so to think that airlines have lost or not taken care of people’s property is a real shame. Especially so given that many of the 1.9 million bags mishandled last year were likely those of travelers venturing across the US to see friends and family since before the pandemic put a pause on a lot of travel, and the revenues airlines are making from baggage fees.”

Envoy Air is also on the spot

American Airlines and Southwest Airlines had the largest number of luggage mishandled. Nonetheless, they didn’t have the largest number of mishandled bags by quantity.

Envoy Air had the dishonor of having the largest number of mishandled bags per 1,000 in 2021, at nine. In real terms, Envoy Air mishandled 81,476 of the 9,051,406 consumers that flew with the company. Envoy Air is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the American Airlines Group.

Meanwhile, American Airlines mishandled 8.25 bags per 1,000 handled, followed by Mesa Airlines (6.54 per 1,000 handled).

This trend has continued over the past three years, with Envoy Air mishandling 8.63 per 1,000 handled since 2019, followed by American Airlines (8.02 per 1,000) and Mesa Airlines (7.03 per 1,000).

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According to IT and telecommunication service company SITA, instances of delayed and lost luggage increased globally over the past year. In 2021, the global mishandled baggage rate spiked by 24% to 4.35 bags per thousand passengers.

Earning additional revenue from luggage fees

Ancillary revenue has become more and more important in the last few years. Now, many airlines charge fees to take luggage onboard. According to Radical Storage, US airlines earned over US$2.1 billion in baggage fees last year.

If we take into account that the top ten US airlines enplaned over 513 million passengers last year, these figures suggest that airlines made an average of US$8.35 in luggage fees per passenger.

Once again, American Airlines topped the list. This carrier made US$520 million from baggage fees last year, followed by Delta Air Lines (US$360 million) and United Airlines (US$341 million). Southwest made the least, US$25.4 million.

Finally, Spirit Airlines earned the most luggage fees per passenger in 2021 (US$18.70), followed by Frontier (US$17.70).

Did any of these airlines mishandle your luggage last year? Let us know in the comments below.