I've been flying my whole life and used to enjoy every minute of it. Once the TSA lines were introduced, this enjoyment was greatly reduced. So, to make your flying experience even better, the airlines have to all be terrible at what they do.
Now I have many friends who work for Delta who were former Northwest Airlines employees so I try to fly Delta as much as possible.
After Delta lost my bag and it arrived in a ripped version of what I gave them with destroyed contents inside. I have to rethink my selection.
So Delta's solution to my bag trouble was to offer a replacement bag. This was a nice gesture since the bag I gave them was no longer acceptable for flying. Unfortunately, my bag contained light stands for photography and was an odd shape to hold the stands correctly. So none of the bags I was offered would work. A look inside the bag and I found over $180 worth of damaged stands.
What do I get? Well I get a $50 voucher to fly with them again. Meanwhile, I have to buy a new bag and new stands while I'm on a trip which puts me out over $200.
Beautiful flying fun! haha
My experiences with the other airlines haven't been tested on this level, but I'm sure each would have done just as little.