What American Airlines Is Doing To Lose Less Luggage In 2025

If you travel frequently, you've probably had to figure out what to do when an airline loses your checked luggage. While mishandled luggage can usually be shipped to your accommodations within a few days, travelers who plan on moving around a lot throughout their trip face particular difficulties. People embarking on a cruise with only one change of clothes on hand will certainly be in for some uncomfortable days. Most travelers agree that while it's extremely annoying when airlines lose luggage, it's bound to happen at some point. After all, millions of people fly each day; some mistakes are inevitable. That being said, some airlines have a reputation for losing track of passengers' belongings a little too frequently. American Airlines is the worst major airline in the United States when it comes to mishandling luggage.

American Airlines is the largest airline in the world by passenger numbers. Each day, the airline transports hundreds of thousands of passengers to around 350 destinations in over 60 countries. Despite the carrier's success, it has some significant problems. According to Department of Transportation (DOT) data, American Airlines mishandled 84,362 bags in December 2024.

In 2025, American Airlines hopes to change, and the carrier is already showing some improvements when it comes to losing less baggage. Although American is still lagging behind competitors like Delta and United, the company reported a 29% year-over-year improvement in Q1 of 2025. There's still a long way to go, but it seems the airline's efforts may be paying off.

How common is it for an airline to lose your luggage? Overall, it happens less than 1% of the time. American Airlines is much larger than some other U.S. airlines, so it makes sense that they would lose more baggage. However, to make things more fair, the DOT bases its rankings on the number of mishandled bags per 100 passengers. American Airlines had a mishandled baggage rate (MBR) of 0.83% in late 2024. To put that into perspective, JetBlue's MBR was 0.41%, Alaska Airlines' was 0.51%, and Delta's was 0.50%. United Airlines had an MBR of 0.79%. Even with the 29% improvement in Q1 of 2025, American Airlines has a long way to go to catch up.

Still, the news is hopeful. According to a Bluesky post by purported aviation insider JonNYC, March 2025 was the carrier's "25th consecutive month of systemwide MBR improvements." The airline has implemented several changes that may be contributing to the improvements. Travel professional Gary Leff reported on his blog View from the Wing that American Airlines hired a manager whose sole purpose is to improve baggage handling. He also wrote that American Airlines' redesigned bag tags will be used to show baggage handlers when there's a tight connection. When there's a connection time of less than 60 minutes, those bags are prioritized. A bag tag with the number one on it tells baggage handlers that they should load that bag last, so it can be unloaded first upon arrival to the connection city.

New technology may also be helping the airline more effectively keep track of bags. A routing tool called T-Link is designed to help employees track which bags need to be loaded first and where they go. American has also sought to improve the bag scanning process to ensure bags aren't missed along the way.

In early 2025, the carrier announced it will begin using Apple AirTags to help passengers locate lost luggage. Competitors, including Delta and United, had already started using AirTag information during the months prior. Customers who choose to place an Airtag on their bag will be able to use Apple's Share Item feature to send the airline information, which American hopes will help decrease the time it takes to locate lost bags and reunite them with passengers.

One of American Airlines' biggest issues has involved the mishandling of mobility aids such as wheelchairs, which poses significant challenges for passengers with disabilities. In the fall of 2024, the DOT charged the airline a record-breaking fine of $50 million for these incidents. Data shows the carrier mishandled 1.48 mobility aids out of 100 in December 2024. The airline had already made efforts to improve when the fine was issued, so it was awarded a $25 million credit toward investments made. If you find yourself in a situation where your luggage has been lost by an airline, stay calm, contact the airline, and know when to get the law involved.