US airlines mishandle more than one million bags in six months

More than one million checked bags were mishandled by US airlines in the first six months of 2026, highlighting an ongoing risk for travellers and the businesses supporting them.

New data from the US Department of Transportation (DOT), analysed by Global Work & Travel, shows airlines mishandled 1,052,493 bags between January and June, from more than 213 million bags enplaned. That equates to around 5,815 mishandled bags every day.

‘Mishandled bags’ are defined by DOT as checked bags that are lost, damaged, delayed, or pilfered, as reported by or on behalf of the passenger.

American Airlines recorded the highest mishandling rate among reporting carriers, at 0.73 bags per 100 enplaned, as well as the largest total number of mishandled bags, at 251,976. Envoy Air followed at 0.72, while United Airlines recorded 0.66.

At the other end of the scale, Allegiant had the lowest rate at 0.12 per 100 bags, followed by JetBlue at 0.31 and Southwest at 0.32.

Overall, baggage performance improved year on year. The mishandling rate fell from 0.52 per 100 bags in the first half of 2025 to 0.49 in 2026, while total mishandled bags declined by almost 100,000.

However, wider flight disruption increased. Some 85,998 scheduled flight operations were cancelled in the first half of 2026, representing 2.23% of scheduled operations, compared with 1.57% a year earlier.

Jürgen Himmelmann, Co-Founder and CEO of Global Work & Travel, said: “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.”