01
The latest figures show improvement, not the end of the problem
SITA says five billion passengers travelled globally in 2025 while approximately 24 million bags were mishandled. Its 2026 report describes a 23% fall in the mishandling rate, the strongest non-pandemic improvement and a rate below the pre-pandemic level.
The 24 million figure is rounded and global. It should not be read as the number of permanently lost suitcases: mishandled baggage includes bags recorded as delayed, lost, damaged or pilfered within the reporting framework.
02
Transfers remain the largest operational pressure point
SITA reports that transfers caused 39% of baggage mishandling in 2025, down from 41% in 2024. A connecting bag has to move between flights, systems and sometimes handlers within a limited window, which adds more handovers than a direct journey.
That statistic describes the industry as a whole. It cannot predict whether an individual bag will be delayed, and it does not prove why a particular bag missed a flight. The passenger's airline report, bag-tag record and available scans are the relevant case evidence.
03
Industry cost is not passenger compensation
SITA's new benchmark estimates that mishandled baggage costs aviation $6.3 billion a year, averaging about $260 per mishandled bag. That model includes operational recovery, rerouting, delivery and compensation costs across different incident types.
The $260 average is not a passenger entitlement or a suggested claim amount. A passenger claim is assessed under the applicable convention, law and airline process using evidence of actual loss and reasonable expense. The Montreal Convention limit is a ceiling, not an automatic payout.
04
Tracking and passenger-provided location data are changing recovery
SITA attributes progress to connected systems, end-to-end tracking, automated transfer work and passenger-facing location technology. Its 2026 release says Apple Find My integration with WorldTracer reduced permanently lost luggage by 90% in its first year and shortened delayed-bag recovery by 26% within that integration.
Those results do not mean an AirTag prevents baggage delay or replaces a PIR. A personal tracker can supply a location clue; the airline or handler still owns the operational report, tracing decisions, rerouting and return process.
05
How BagBack uses and labels baggage data
BagBack dates the reporting year as well as the publication year: '2025 data, published in the 2026 report'. We use SITA's own wording where a figure is rounded and avoid converting an industry cost estimate into a passenger-rights claim.
Older annual reports may use a different denominator, data set or methodology. Compare like with like, follow revisions at the primary source and do not combine regional and global rates as though they describe the same population.