The news coming out of airports as of late has not been great. The last few years for the aviation industry have been bleak, marked by strikes, poor quality control, and most recently, a concerning streak of plane crashes. With all that said, we come bearing less bad, but still not good, airport news. Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport visitors face the highest risk of luggage theft, according to a study from AirAdvisor.
In fact, the study says that DFW Airport's baggage claim is nothing short of the "No. 1 most lawless baggage claim" in America.
The study assigned weights to Google search patterns for lost luggage, Yelp and Google reviews and even the average walking distance from the gate to baggage claim in minutes to determine the most high-risk airports. Yes, DFW topped the list.
But the math is a little tricky if we're being honest, with 20% of the scoring coming from gate-to-baggage-claim distance and 25% from passenger volume. DFW Airport is the third largest in the world by area, covering 26.88 miles, and the third busiest by passenger volume in the world, serving 86.9 million passengers in 2024.
The study reports nearly 17,000 Google searches related to lost luggage, but if you do the math based on 86.9 million yearly travelers, you’re left with only .02% of travelers taking their problems to the internet. The study also claims the average walk from a gate to baggage claim is a seemingly impossible 43 minutes, a full 13 minutes longer than the second-ranked trek to baggage claim at Salt Lake City International Airport. This feels unreasonably long and a bit dramatic.
“It takes nearly 43 minutes on average just to get to the baggage claim from your gate,” the study says. “To put this in perspective, the average walk time of the 55 airports was only 11 minutes. In Dallas you'll be walking four times longer, leaving a long period where thieves can weasel their way in.”
That sounds like a lot of time, even for DFW Airport. But a spokesperson for AirAdviser says they came to that number by looking at each terminal and then picking the furthest gate from the baggage claim in each terminal and then averaging those figured out. When asked to specify which gates were used in this equation, we were told that Gate A39, Gate B49, Gate C39, Gate D40 and Gate E38 were factored in as the gates in each terminal furthest from their respective baggage claim areas.
Let's put it this way: we're skeptical of this whole 43-minute walk to baggage claim business.
The study does not include any data on how much luggage is reported as stolen. Besides, most baggage-related issues are the fault of airlines and not airports. As devil’s advocate, Fort Worth-based American Airlines statistically has the worst record when it comes to mishandled and lost baggage. In 2024, they mishandled 214,361 bags out of 43 million, so, low odds. Only about 3% of all luggage is lost or stolen, but still, AirAdvisor recommends travelers avoid checking a bag to avoid potential theft. We recommend taking the Skylink.
The Observer does not ardently defend our city’s airport or its $2 entry toll. The airport leaves much to be desired in terms of air travel ease. But it's a safe bet you will not be trekking for nearly 45 minutes to get your bag. Now, you might wait that long or more once you're at the baggage claim, but that's a different story.
