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U.S. airlines last year lost about 10,000 bags a day on average, the worst performance since 1990.The rate of lost suitcase reports per 1,000 passengers on flights soared 23% from a year earlier, according to recent numbers from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Among the reasons: a surge in the number of passengers, airline budget cuts, backed-up flights and tighter inspections of luggage.
In all, passengers filed with airlines more than 3.5 million reports of lost bags, most of which eventually find their way back to owners. Inside the 2005 numbers
| Airline |
Reports per 1,000 passengers
|
Year-over-year increase
|
| US Airways |
9.62
|
81%
|
| Delta Air Lines |
7.09
|
37%
|
| American Airlines |
5.92
|
25%
|
| Northwest Airlines |
4.86
|
15%
|
| America West Airlines |
4.33
|
9%
|
| United Airlines |
4.28
|
9%
|
| Southwest Airlines |
4.25
|
27%
|
| Continental Airlines |
4.12
|
15%
|
| Source: Dept. of Transportation | ||
Southwest Airlines' rate of lost bags jumped nearly 27%. Southwest blames the airline's cranky new bag systems in Baltimore, Las Vegas and Phoenix.
Delta Air Lines, third-biggest airline, lost more bags than any other carrier. Its customers filed 573,419 lost bag reports.
| Luggage limbo |  |
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