From the Los Angeles Times
TRAVEL Q&A
Right bag, wrong person
When a flier's suitcase is weirdly waylaid after a mix-up, the issue of accountability arises.
Laurie Berger
Travel Q&A
January 1, 2006
(snip)
Travel Q&A researched the problem for Nixon and found that switched tags are treated like mishandled baggage. If a flier's luggage is lost, stolen, damaged or items are found to be missing, the airline is liable for up to $2,800 under Department of Transportation rules. But a passenger holding another flier's bag hostage? That's a new one on us — and on American as well. "It's one of the weirdest cases I've ever heard," said spokesman Tim Smith.
Although It took three days and a slew of baggage handlers in Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles to straighten out the mess, American did return Nixon's bag, and it doesn't owe him anything. Because Nixon was already at his final destination — LAX — when he reported the problem, American didn't compensate him for the inconvenience either.
Still, the luggage problem raises questions: Why did American let a passenger walk out with the wrong suitcase? Simple, Smith said: She held the matching tag. "No one would have stopped her," he said. American's contract of carriage states that it's not responsible for making sure claim-check holders actually own the luggage they're rolling out the door. According to the airline's records, the Chicago passenger never intended to deceive. She simply held on to Nixon's bag until hers was delivered.
(snip)
Our reader's bag bugaboo also raises the question: Why wasn't anyone checking tags in the baggage claim area? To save money, most airlines and airports have done away with such checks. American's Smith, however, contends that so few passengers leave with the wrong bags, it "doesn't make economic sense" to monitor claim areas. Nor does the DOT require them to do so. "It's basically an honor system now," says spokesman Bill Mosley. Airports assume no liability either. "It's not our responsibility," says Mark LaVorgna of New York's Port Authority, which oversees operations at John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark airports.
(snip)
http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-travelqa1jan01,1,7658494.column
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