Nothing spoils a trip faster than arriving at your destination without your belongings, and at John F. Kennedy International Airport, the risk of mishandled luggage is especially high, according to new analysis of federal complaint data.
JFK Airport is the second worst in the country when it comes to travelers’ having their luggage lost, delayed or damaged, according to a new study by Upgrade Points, a Texas-based company that researches travel trends and deals.
The study analyzed a decades’ worth of federal complaint data for the nation’s busiest airports and found fliers passing through JFK Airport filed nearly two complaints about mishandled luggage for every 100,000 travelers to officials at the Transportation Security Administration.
JFK was only second to Orlando International Airport, which slightly edged out the Queens airport with 1.81 complaints to JFK’s 1.72 per 100,000 passengers, the study shows.
Palm Beach International Airport, Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport rounded out the top five travel hubs with the most passenger complaints on mishandled baggage.
One bright spot for fliers is that mishandled baggage complaints dropped by 7.6% in 2024 industry-wide compared to 2023, according to Upgrade Points. But despite the overall improvement, some airlines struggled more than others to keep baggage on track. The top five offenders include American, United, Alaska, Delta and Southwest, according to the study.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, Queens-based JetBlue saw the biggest improvement in baggage handling year over year.
The rate of the airline’s mishandled bags dropped by 34.8%, decreasing from 0.56 mishandled bags per 100 luggage items boarded onto a plane in 2023 to a slight 0.36 in 2024.
Airports that were least likely to lose travelers’ bags include San Francisco International Airport, Kansas City International Airport and Chicago O’Hare International Airport, the study found.
