SITA revealed a new turning point in baggage problems: why suitcases are lost less often, but the risk for transfers remains

The new SITA Baggage IT Insights 2026 report, published on June 29, shows an important shift for air passengers: the aviation industry has become noticeably better at handling baggage, however, travel with suitcases has not become completely risk-free. According to SITA, the total cost of baggage problems in 2025 reached approximately 6.3 billion dollars, and the most vulnerable point remains transfers, where a bag passes through several systems, airlines, ground handling services, and time constraints.

For a tourist, this news is important not as dry statistics about airport operations, but as a practical signal before the summer season. If previously the loss or delay of baggage was often perceived as an almost random failure, it is now evident that the problem increasingly depends on the digital footprint of the suitcase, the quality of data exchange between transport participants, sorting automation, transfer rules, and how ready the passenger is to track and document the situation themselves.

What exactly the new SITA report showed

SITA, one of the key technological providers for the aviation industry, in the fresh Baggage IT Insights 2026, notes that costs for mishandled baggage have dropped to the lowest level since the pre-pandemic period, although passenger traffic continued to grow. On the report page, the company estimates the total cost of baggage problems at 6.3 billion dollars and names a new benchmark for the average cost of a single case - about 260 dollars per suitcase.

The specialized publication Travel Daily News, analyzing the same report, provides additional dynamics: in 2025, the level of mishandled baggage decreased by 23% year-on-year to 4.9 bags per 1000 passengers, and the total number of such cases decreased by approximately 19% to 24 million. At the same time, airlines, according to SITA's estimates, carried about 5 billion passengers. This means the industry simultaneously served a record-high flow of people and reduced the share of baggage errors.

This does not mean that baggage problems have disappeared. On the contrary, SITA explicitly emphasizes that even after progress, the financial and reputational price remains high. A delayed suitcase can ruin the first day of vacation, a business meeting, a cruise boarding, a skiing trip, or a family trip with children. For airlines, these are costs for searching, re-sending, delivery, compensation, and contact center operations. For passengers - stress, additional purchases, documents for insurance claims, and the need to prove exactly what was lost or delayed.

Why baggage is lost less often

The main reason for improvement is not one magic technology, but a combination of several changes. SITA names among the key factors baggage tracking at the check-in, loading, transfer, and arrival stages in accordance with IATA Resolution 753. For the passenger, this means that the suitcase increasingly has a digital history: where it was accepted, when it entered sorting, whether it was loaded on board, and whether it transferred to the next flight.

Second factor - transfer automation. Large hubs invest in sorting systems, routing, early baggage storage, and better interaction between airlines and ground services. This is especially important for passengers flying through London Heathrow, Frankfurt, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Amsterdam Schiphol, New York JFK or Istanbul, where baggage often passes through complex connecting chains.

Third direction - more accurate bag identification. The report mentions RFID tags, computer vision, machine learning, and other forms of baggage biometrics. The idea is simple: the system must recognize not only the tag number, but also the object itself, its route, likely risk points, and deviations from the plan. In the future, this could reduce the number of situations where a suitcase is physically in the airport, but cannot be quickly linked to a specific passenger or flight.

Transfers remain the main weak point

The most important practical conclusion for travelers: the risk is greatest not on a simple direct flight, but on routes with transfers. According to SITA, transfer baggage caused 39% of mishandling cases in 2025. This is slightly less than a year earlier, but still the largest share among causes.

The logic is clear. At a transfer, the suitcase must have time to pass sorting, sometimes change terminals, move from one airline to another, pass security checks or customs procedures depending on the country and route. If the first flight is delayed by 40 minutes, the passenger may still manage to run to the gate, but the baggage may not. If tickets are bought separately, the risk increases even further, because the system does not always see the journey as a single route.

Therefore, when planning complex routes, it is worth checking not only the price, but also the realism of the connection. For large hubs, it is useful to open the online board before departure: for example, the Heathrow board, Frankfurt board, Charles de Gaulle board, Schiphol board, JFK board or Istanbul Airport board. This does not guarantee that the suitcase will arrive on time, but helps to assess delays, cancellations, terminal changes, and the likelihood of rushing during a transfer.

What AirTag, Find My and passenger trackers change

A separate block in SITA's materials is dedicated to the integration of passenger tracking devices with aviation systems. The company describes the Apple and SITA case, in which sending a secure link from Find My to WorldTracer helps to find delayed baggage faster. For the passenger, this is an important shift: a tracker in the suitcase is no longer just a way to see the approximate location of the bag yourself, but can become part of the official search process, if the airline supports the corresponding integration.

However, this does not cancel basic rules. A tracker is not a baggage tag, does not replace a boarding pass, and does not guarantee delivery. If the suitcase remained in another city, the passenger still has to file a mishandled baggage report, save the case number, receipts for necessary purchases, and correspondence with the airline. But a tracker can reduce the time of uncertainty: the passenger sees whether the suitcase remained at the airport of departure, whether it arrived on another flight, or is already in the baggage claim area.

Why a lower level of problems does not mean less attention to rules

The new SITA report may create an optimistic impression: baggage is lost less often, therefore, one can worry less. In reality, the correct conclusion is different. Precisely because aviation is moving to a more digital model, the passenger should be more careful with data, documents, and evidence.

Before check-in, it is worth removing previous baggage tags from old suitcases, checking that the name in the booking matches the documents, photographing the suitcase and its contents, leaving contact information inside, and not checking in the most important items. Medicines, documents, keys, chargers, laptops, jewelry, a basic set of clothes for the first day and items for children are better kept in carry-on luggage, if allowed by security rules and the airline.

Passengers flying for a cruise, wedding, conference, skiing holiday, or sporting event should be especially careful. If a suitcase with clothes or equipment arrives two days later, formally this may be only a delay, but practically it can ruin a significant part of the trip. In such cases, it is worth booking a route with a larger time margin, avoiding too short connections, and checking whether insurance covers baggage delay, the purchase of necessary items, and delivery to the hotel.

What this means for the aviation market

For airlines, baggage ceases to be a secondary operational topic. If the average case costs about 260 dollars, and the total sum reaches 6.3 billion dollars, investments in baggage data become not just a service improvement, but a way to protect margins. In a period of expensive fuel, aircraft shortages, and high maintenance costs and fierce competition, even a few percentage points reduction in baggage errors have financial significance.

For airports, this is a question of hub reputation. A passenger may forgive a long queue if the flight arrived on time and the suitcase appeared on the belt. But if after a complex transfer the baggage did not arrive, the negative experience is often associated with the entire airport, even if the error occurred at the intersection of several systems. That is why large transfer hubs are more actively investing in automation, early detection of risky bags, and better data exchange with airlines.

Conclusion

The SITA Baggage IT Insights 2026 report shows good news: aviation has indeed learned to handle baggage more reliably than in the most difficult years after the pandemic. But for the passenger, this is no reason to ignore risks. The smartest strategy for 2026 is to combine the benefits of new technologies with basic caution: choose realistic transfers, monitor flight status, label the suitcase, keep documents, and do not check in critically important items.

If digital systems, airlines, airports, and passengers themselves move in the same direction, baggage problems will gradually become rarer and faster to resolve. But as long as transfer routes remain the main source of failures, the suitcase still requires as much planning as the ticket, hotel, or insurance.