Airlines routinely damage and destroy luggage and make the claims process so painful that most passengers give up
Your bag comes off the carousel crushed, broken, or missing. The airline's liability is capped at a fraction of your actual loss. The claims process requires documentation you were never told to gather before the trip. The deadline to file is shorter than you realised. And the airline knows that most passengers will abandon the process before collecting anything.
Who has this problem
Passengers with mishandled bags on American, Envoy, or United
Travelers on the specific carriers/regional network with the highest documented mishandling rates, facing a process built to make them give up.
International travelers with Montreal Convention claims
Passengers owed up to about $2,060, who face a slower, different process than domestic refunds.
Business travelers on tight schedules
A delayed bag can cost a meeting, and the airline's refund clock is measured in hours, not trips.
Travel-insurance and card-benefit claims teams
People who need airline documentation that passengers were never told to collect at the airport.
Signal timeline
DOT's September 2026 Air Travel Consumer Report (July 2026 data), the full primary PDF now hosted below, shows a mixed month: American improved to 0.81 (from 0.84 in June) and Southwest held flat at 0.35, but United worsened sharply to 0.79 (from 0.62) and Delta worsened to 0.43 (from 0.32), and JetBlue jumped from 0.30 to 0.46. Industry-wide the rate rose to 0.55 per 100 enplaned bags, its worst month since March.
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