COLORADO NEWS

Denver International is the second-best airport in America at not losing your stuff, study finds

Jul 21, 2026, 3:43 PM

For a city whose airport is best known for a demonic horse, a conspiracy-theory-inducing baggage tunnel and being roughly 45 minutes from everything, DIA just quietly picked up one of its best compliments in years: It’s the second-best major airport in the country at not losing your belongings.

New data from travel-tech company Holafly, which analyzed 10 years of TSA mishandling and lost-and-found complaint data across the 20 busiest airports in the United States, found that Denver International logged just 6.43 combined complaints per million passengers — second-lowest in the nation behind only San Francisco International at 3.83. Over the full decade from 2015 to 2025, DIA recorded a total of just 2,765 complaints, combining 2,683 mishandling complaints and a mere 82 lost-and-found complaints. For an airport that handles more than 40 million passengers a year, that’s remarkably tidy.

For context, Orlando International — where your luggage apparently goes to die — topped the list at 19.19 complaints per million passengers. New York’s JFK was right behind at 18.30, followed by Miami at 18.25. Denver’s rate is roughly one-third of Orlando’s, which means you’re about three times more likely to lose your sunglasses in Florida than your suitcase at DIA. Boston Logan, which we recently learned has the worst drivers in America, also can’t seem to keep track of your bags, coming in at 13.49. Even the vaunted Chicago O’Hare — which handles a comparable volume of travelers — logged a rate of 7.58, nearly 20% higher than Denver.

The most commonly lost item at DIA? Keys. According to the study’s search volume analysis, “keys lost at Denver International Airport” generated a total search volume of 5,200 — beating out phones, AirPods, laptops and wallets. Which means the most Colorado thing possible is happening: People are flying out for vacation, realizing somewhere over Kansas that their car keys are sitting in a TSA bin at Jeppesen Terminal, and Googling it from 35,000 feet.

DIA may still be the airport where your Uber costs $40 and takes longer than some domestic flights, but at least when you land, your bag will be there.

Colorado News

John Cena congratulating Cody Rhodes after Rhodes became the undisputed of WWE in 2025....

Kevin Kissner

WWE ‘Friday Night SmackDown’ returning to Colorado

The last time WWE held an event in Colorado it was “Friday Night Smackdown” back in November of 2025. Now WWE announced that they’re returning to Ball Arena on October […]

60 minutes ago

DENVER, CO - MARCH 23:  Ty Lawson #3 of the Denver Nuggets looks on against the San Antonio Spurs a...

Big Mic

Former Denver Nuggets player Ty Lawson arrested for shoplifting

Ty Lawson, formerly a point guard for the Denver Nuggets, was arrested for allegedly shoplifting and stealing a bottle of vodka in Castle Rock according to KDVR. Records show that […]

1 hour ago

(Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)...

Shawn Patrick

Colorado native and former Bronco Dalton Risner and wife Whitney share heartbreaking loss of their baby boy

Dalton Risner has never been just another NFL player to Colorado. He’s ours — born and raised in Wiggins, a tiny farming town of about 1,000 people an hour northeast […]

23 hours ago

(Photo by Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images)...

Shawn Patrick

Somehow a man stole $65,000 in change from Coinstar machines across Colorado

This has to be a Netflix documentary at some point… There are heists, and then there is whatever Richard Pena did. A Las Vegas man has been sentenced to up […]

23 hours ago

Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images...

Shawn Patrick

Bass Pro Shops opens its newest Colorado store this week with a crystal mill, indoor trout stream and Broncos Super Bowl trophies

If you’ve ever wanted to stand inside a recreation of Colorado’s Crystal Mill while a 70-pound blue catfish swims beneath you and a mountain lion stalks a ponderosa pine overhead, […]

24 hours ago

Photo by John Moore/Getty Images...

Shawn Patrick

More than three out of four Coloradans worry they can’t afford to live here anymore

A lot of people around the country are wondering when gas and groceries got so expensive, but people in Colorado just want to know when our whole state got so […]

24 hours ago

Denver International is the second-best airport in America at not losing your stuff, study finds