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Too many times over the years, Ed Lozar says, he's flown cross-country only to discover when he lands that while he made it, his bag didn't.

That happens less often nowadays, he says, but the anxiety lingers. Every time he gets off a flight and takes his place in the crowd around the baggage carousel, he is prepared for the worst.

"(I'm) always nervous," says Lozar, 57, a retired U.S. Forest Service employee who lives in Orofino, Idaho. "There's a solid percentage of me that believes it's never going to show up, because it's happened to me so many times."

There's good reason for Lozar's anxiety. Airlines get nearly four reports for every 1,000 domestic passengers that luggage has been delayed, lost, pilfered or damaged, according to the Department of Transportation and about 1.7 million passengers are on domestic flights each day. At the same time, nearly every domestic airline is charging passengers to check their bags. Just last month, five major carriers raised the average price of checking a first bag to $25 at the airport, and a second to $35.

The new round of fee increases is prompting some passengers to ask: If the airlines are charging more to carry bags, shouldn't they do more to make sure they arrive when they're supposed to?

"I'd like to see the reason they're going to charge more ... (is) to update their baggage system or to do something to ensure more bags won't get lost," says Chris Byrd, 37, a research associate in the pharmaceutical industry, who lives in Phoenix. "But I would never actually expect it from them."