The US airlines most and least likely to mishandle your luggage

Each year, thousands of suitcases end up separated from their owners due to airline baggage mishandlings. Although many of these missing suitcases eventually get to the right place, some never do.

Just last month, theUS Department of Transportation (DOT) issued their latest airline travel report that lists the mishandled baggage stats for August 2018.

The data is based on passenger reports concerning lost, damaged, delayed, or pilfered baggage. The numbers could be higher or lower depending on any reports that were false or any missing luggage incidents that went unreported. This data is also limited to US airlines.

Here's how 12 major US airlines compare, according to the DOT report's August 2018 data. 

Envoy Air had 6.21 bags mishandled per 1,000 passengers in August 2018.

The airline on this list with the highest rate of mishandled luggage in August 2018 is the Texas-based airline  Envoy Air, according to the latest DOT consumer report.

The report states there were about six mishandled pieces of luggage for every 1,000 passengers, which is consistent with the statistics of years past. Since 2012, Envoy Air has logged more than twice as many mishandled luggage complaints as their top competitors.

This is slightly lower than the eight mishandled pieces of luggage per 1,000 passengers reported earlier this year in January.

ExpressJet Airlines had 5.87 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers in August 2018.

ExpressJet Airlines is one of the largest regional airlines. This carrier operates regional flights across the United States that are branded as flights for American Eagle and United Express.

Because of the many flights ExpressJet operates, it could help explain why this airline has some of the most reports of mishandled baggage on the DOT list.

SkyWest Airlines had 4.69 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers in August 2018.

SkyWest operates thousands of flights for Alaska Airlines, American, Delta, and United Airlines, and is owned by ExpressJet. 

In August of 2018, the airline was reported as having over four mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers, according to the DOT report.