An American Airlines passenger collected her checked-in luggage from the carousel after a recent flight and discovered that during its time in the care of the Texas-based carrier, one of the wheels had been ripped clean off.
It’s a frustrating experience that all too many passengers have to deal with, but you would like to think that American Airlines would offer to make amends for damaging a bag so badly.
So I checked my bag with @AmericanAir last night and now my luggage wheel is completely gone. The response back was saying there’s no compensation for “minor imperfections such as small scratches, stains, dents, cuts or dirt.”
— Rai (@rayxsuh) March 20, 2026
Um I’m missing an entire damn wheel??? 😒
Unfortunately, that most certainly wasn’t the case, with a rep for the airline claiming that wheels being sheared off during transit is “normal wear and tear” and therefore something that it won’t cover.
The customer took to X to share her experience, explaining: “So I checked my bag with American Airlines last night and now my luggage wheel is completely gone.”
“The response back was saying there’s no compensation for minor imperfections such as small scratches, stains, dents, cuts, or dirt.’ Um, I’m missing an entire damn wheel?”
In response, American Airlines confirmed that it really wouldn’t cover the passenger for this type of damage, pointing her in the direction of its baggage liability policy, which excludes more damage than it includes.
In theory, the airline will pay for damage to bags and their contents up to $4,700, but beware, there’s a long list of exceptions to this guarantee.
In terms of damage to the luggage itself, American Airlines won’t pay out for minor scratches, scuffs, stains, dents, cuts, or dirt, as well as anything that ‘sticks out’ like wheels, straps, pockets, handles, hooks, or other attachments, through normal wear and tear.
Presumably, unless proven otherwise, American Airlines considers any damage to be caused by normal wear and tear.
American Airlines’ policy, however, seems to fly in the face of rules laid down by the Department of Transportation, which states: “Although airlines are not required to cover fair wear and tear, airlines cannot exclude liability for damage to wheels, handles, straps, and other components of checked baggage.”
The problem for passengers is that just because airlines aren’t meant to exclude damage to wheels, it doesn’t mean they won’t try, and it’s not easy to enforce your rights.
Perhaps the simplest way to proceed is to file a claim immediately (before you leave the baggage hall), and if airline reps initially reject the claim, raise it again with the airline’s customer relations department, pointing out the DOT regulations in the hope that, when pushed, they’ll settle the claim.
If that fails, passengers can file a complaint directly with the DOT, but there’s no guarantee that the feds will take action, especially on the back of an individual complaint.
The alternative is to go to small claims court and hope that the airline will either settle before the case is heard, or simply fail to show up at court in the hope that a default judgment will be passed in the passenger’s favor.
According to the DOT’s Air Travel Consumer Report, American Airlines doesn’t have a stellar record when it comes to mishandling checked baggage. In 2025, the carrier mishandled more than 723,000 bags, at a rate of 0.66 per 100 bags enplaned.
The only airline that performed even worse than American was United, with a mishandling rate of 0.72 per 100 bags enplaned.
