How often does luggage get lost Air Canada?

Air Canada had a total of 3,192 complaints from passengers left without their luggage at either departure or arrival. WestJet came in second with 611 complaints followed by Sunwing with 594 complaints. Then came Air Transat with 261 complaints and Porter with 42 complaints.



While "lost" luggage is rare, Air Canada—like most major 2026 hub-and-spoke airlines—experiences mishandled baggage (delayed or misplaced) at a rate of roughly 6 to 9 bags per 1,000 passengers. The vast majority of these "lost" bags are simply delayed during tight connections at major hubs like Toronto (YYZ) or Montreal (YUL) and are returned within 24 to 48 hours. In 2026, Air Canada has significantly improved its tracking via the mobile app, allowing passengers to see their bag’s journey in real-time. Truly "lost" bags (those never recovered) represent less than 1% of all mishandled cases. To minimize risk, travelers are encouraged to use digital trackers like AirTags and avoid checking bags on flights with less than a 90-minute layover. Air Canada's 2025/2026 policy also mandates daily updates for passengers with delayed bags to reduce the anxiety of a missing suitcase.

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What are the chances that you get back your lost luggage? 99.99972% only 28 out of 100,000 bags are “totally” lost. Apx 5 bags out of every 10,000 checked bags are lost or delayed.

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According to Luggage Hero, there were more than 684,000 lost and mishandled bags at major US airlines in the first quarter of 2022 alone. The Points Guy notes that this equated to approximately seven bags out of every 1,000, or 0.7%. American Airlines' average came in slightly higher, at nine per 1,000 or 0.9%.

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During the first three months of 2023, over 721,000 bags checked on domestic flights were mishandled out of 113 million checked bags in total—an average of 0.64 bags per 100 checked bags, per the U.S. Department of Transportation. That's up from 2019, when 0.59 bags were mishandled per 100 checked bags.

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8 ways to prevent your luggage getting lost
  1. While there's no definitive way to stop your luggage from getting lost, there are some steps you can take to give your bags a better chance. Make sure your bag is tagged properly. ...
  2. Make clear where it's going and who owns it. ...
  3. Avoid tight layovers. ...
  4. Make your bag stand out.


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Allegiant Air Allegiant is also the U.S. airline least likely to mishandle your luggage, according to the 2021 Air Travel Consumer Report. Over the 12-month period studied, Allegiant handled 446,862 bags and just 877 were mishandled. The airline only mishandled 1.96 bags out of 1,000.

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American Airlines is the number one worst airline for losing or damaging your luggage, with 5.34 incidents per 1,000 bags. Although it's a low percentage compared to the total number of bags checked, American Airlines still takes the dubious distinction of being the airline most likely to lose your luggage.

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Here's the ranking of US airlines from MOST complaints in May 2022 to LEAST complaints in May 2022:
  • American Airlines (575 complaints)
  • United Airlines (400 complaints)
  • Frontier Airlines (301 complaints)
  • Delta Air Lines (281 complaints)
  • Spirit Airlines (269 complaints)
  • JetBlue Airways (244 complaints)


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In general, most luggage will end up being found, so they get classified as “delayed” and not “lost.” But in that immediate time when you're without your belongings, there should be some level of compensation, depending on the exact nature of your situation.

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These airlines get the most lost and damaged luggage complaints, apparently
  • Ryanair (954)
  • British Airways (844)
  • easyJet (565)
  • Wizz Air (552)
  • Norwegian (419)
  • Flybe (297)
  • Turkish Airlines (195)
  • Virgin Atlantic (182)


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5 Ways to Avoid Losing Your Luggage in 2023
  1. USE A LUGGAGE TRACKER LIKE GEGO GPS: ...
  2. PACK ESSENTIAL ITEMS IN YOUR CARRY-ON BAG: ...
  3. USE A LUGGAGE IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM O STRAP: ...
  4. KEEP TRACK OF YOUR LUGGAGE AT ALL TIMES: ...
  5. GET TRAVEL INSURANCE:


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Luggage may get delayed or lost due to human error or other accidental factors, and many millions of bags are lost by airlines each year.

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Absolutely! Every airline is responsible for their passengers' lost belongings and will make every attempt to reunite the luggage with its owner. But some bags can end up sitting for months with nobody claiming them, and they're eventually sold to the public instead of sitting in a storage facility forever.

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Small claims courts handle a wide variety of property-related lawsuits which include lawsuits for lost luggage by an airline. Small claims court is also an affordable and user-friendly way for you to sue an airline for lost or delayed luggage.

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Air Canada has been named the “Best Airline in North America” by Skytrax eight times in the past ten years. The award is given based on customer votes and speaks volumes about Air Canada's success.

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Air Canada ranks last in on-time performance among 10 biggest North American airlines. Passengers on a flight from Manchester to Toronto are angry about a two-day delay. Natalie Johnson reports.

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