Survey Says American, Southwest Are the Top Two Carriers When It Comes to Losing Bags

By Robert Wilonsky Thu., Jan. 5 2012 at 10:08 AM

Categories: Probably Insignificant Aviation News

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A Friend of Unfair Park passes along The Wall Street Journal's latest look-see at how well the big carriers handle passengers and their luggage, and per the annual Middle Seat survey the two locally based airlines don't do so well when it comes to getting your bags to your destination. As in: American Airlines is the worst, followed by Southwest. Matter of fact, American's dead-last when it comes to overall customer service -- so that's the middle finger, says the Middle Seat, which compiles data from myriad sources, including the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration.

Last year, American was worst among major carriers at baggage handling and had the highest percentage of canceled flights. The rate at which American canceled flights was 70% higher than at United, Delta and the industry average for major airlines, which the DOT defines as those with more than $1 billion in operating revenue. ...

Southwest Airlines, the only major airline that doesn't charge fees to check two pieces of luggage, had the second-worst rate of mishandled bags, better than only American. Bags fly free, but they don't always get there. Excluding AirTran Airways, which Southwest acquired in May, Southwest would have been the industry's worst at baggage handling. In addition to added volume, Southwest's baggage operation has struggled with complexity of connecting lots of different flights in lots of different cities.

Still, the article also notes Southwest had the fewest passenger complaints, per the DOT. Read the whole thing here before you book your next trip. Business as usual, indeed.

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Shit I understand SWA to fly from Dallas to St Louis you have a stop in Tulsa, Houston, New Orleans, and Denver.
I quit checking bags 20 years ago after dealing with lost bags on an international flight. Eagle Creek backpack is the only way to fly.
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I wonder if Southwest's problems are primarily centered at certain airports and drag down the statistics for the whole system. I've been flying on them three or four legs a month, mostly between one city pair but with a few excursions a year to many places across their system, for ten years now. I often check a bag or two. The only time they lost my checked luggage, it was for a small value of "lost" -- they figured out where it was, but couldn't reunite it with me until the next morning. Similarly for the one family member who had such an experience. On the couple of other occasions when my bag came in late, it was my own fault for blowing the check-in deadline (and when I do, they *usually* get my bag on the same plane anyway -- they just don't guarantee it).
at the end of the day, Southwest ROCKS
"Two agents working for the Transportation Security Administration have been arrested after stealing from passengers at New York’s JFK airport. The New York Daily News reports that Davon Webb and Persad Coumar were ratted out by a colleague. Both have worked for the TSA for over five years. The theft that doomed the two involved pocketing $40,000 from a passenger’s bag. After being interrogated they confessed to stealing as much as $160,000 from passengers, selecting victims’ bags at random." Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/02/16/tsa-bad-apples-steal-thousands-from-passengers-baggage/#ixzz1ihneQXiK
Reminds me of the old joke: Passenger to ticket agent at O'Hare: "I'm flying to Boston today, but I'd like this bag to go to LAX and this other bag to go to DFW." Ticket agent to passenger: "Sir! We can't do that for you!" Passenger to ticket agent: "Oh yeah? Ya did it for me last week!"
Southwest is up there because their baggage handlers keep filming commercials rather than getting my bags to the right place.
One of the major reasons why bags are "lost" on these two airlines is because they are two of the largest freight carriers in the industry. This means that 95% of the time, your bag isn't "lost", it's been bumped so that the plane can carry more freight. This is much more profitable to them than a passenger who scoured the internet for the lowest fare (and paying no bag fees if it's on Southwest). Plus, it's also worth the risk to upset a customer with a bumped bag because despite what an upset customer will say, "I'm never flying X airline again!" They will, as long as it's cheapest and/or non-stop.
At least Southwest doesn't charge you. They just keep your bag.
That is a good question and what happens to complaints? I once had an $80 pepper grinder stolen out of my bag!
I wonder if there are any statistics about items missing from luggage sunglasses jewelry etc. following "screening" by the TASB.
I hate checking bags with anybody and learned 20 years ago to live out of one roller bag and a carry-on. When I've been forced to check, Southwest has lost the bag (for a day or two) roughly 40% of the time. Of course, one of those times I'd left my keys in the roller bag so I wouldn't have to mess with them at the metal detector...
The airlines have never lost a bag of mine, then again, I try to never check a bag when I fly, and if I do, its usually my golf clubs
This is not new with Southwest. I fly with them exclusively and yes, they have lost my luggage on many occasions, so it's something that I have come to expect, especially when there's a delay on a connecting flight. BUT... they ALWAYS get my luggage to me before the next morning, usually by the end of the evening.
one more reason to fly SWA. they'll lose your luggage for free, but with AA you have to pay them (luggage fee).
It would be nice if u pointed out the differance between the numbers from the best to the worst. O that is not as good of a story!!!!!!
Who knew Southwest was anything but heroic? Gotta love the line "the dessicated response of the spokeseunuch": http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/286686/vee-vozz-only-obeying-orders-mark-steyn
I'm sure things will improve at AA now that they're in BK. Once they're able to further destroy employee morale (pay cuts, benefit elimination, workload), ditch equipment, cut flights (yay, more crowded planes) and stiff creditors, just think how much better, er, um...