You don’t have to be a card-carrying frequent flier to know that when an airline loses your luggage, the odds of getting compensated are not good. That’s because its contract of carriage — the legal agreement between you and the airline — contains exceptions for everything from electronics to heirlooms. The best you can hope for is a check for a few hundred bucks to cover the clothing you lost, not the $3,000 maximum liability that’s advertised. But what if you didn’t check your bag?
That happened several years ago to Rosemary Daly, a US Airways passenger who eventually settled with the airline when it offered her flight vouchers. Now another passenger is going to court because of a similar loss.
“Continental Airlines recently lost a bag of mine filled with irreplaceable possessions, including heirloom jewelry that has been in my family for generations,” says Anjum Malik of Austin, Texas. “This bag was a carry-on, not a checked item. A carry-on bag and was moved without my knowledge or permission from the overhead bin. No one has seen the bag since.”
I asked Continental to comment on Malik’s case, but it declined because of the pending litigation.
Here’s what’s known. Malik was flying to Rhode Island to attend a graduation ceremony, and had packed some jewelry in a carry-on bag. A flight attendant helped her put the suitcase in an overhead bin a few rows away from her, since the bins above her were already taken.
After the plane was taxiing down the runway, I was informed that the Continental staff had moved my bag — supposedly to the lower storage area of the plane. In order to find whose bag it was, the Continental staff had gone into my suitcase and from my purse they got my airline ticket and my name. Yet they did not have enough sense to at least give me my purse or to see if I needed anything (such as medication) or wanted anything (such as my jewelry) from the bag.
Although they knew from my ticket that I had a connecting flight in New Jersey, they still did not gate check my bag, which would have allowed me to retrieve it upon exiting the plane at Newark to make my connecting flight to Providence.
Instead, they told me that they had checked it all the way through to Providence and handed me a handwritten number on top of the ticket jacket they had gotten out from my purse!
Unsurprisingly, the bag vanished, along with my jewelry.
This is the most bizarre action I have ever known an airline to take with respect to a passenger’s carry-on luggage, and may well be the most egregious case of airline carelessness you have heard.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t end there. Rather than negotiating a settlement with Malik — even after she presented the airline with receipts — Continental refused to compensate her and is moving to have her suit dismissed.
This is an interesting case. If Malik had voluntarily surrendered her luggage to Continental, then its contract of carriage would apply, and the airline wouldn’t be liable for her jewelry and other valuables. However, Malik didn’t check her luggage. Someone removed her luggage from the overhead bin and then lost it.
“They took entirely unnecessary, unapproved and unilateral action over which I had no control and which directly resulted in the loss of my property,” Malik told me. “There was nothing I could have done to prevent this, and now they choose to pay exorbitant legal fees rather than compensate me for the loss they caused.”
I don’t have all the details of this case, since Continental won’t talk to me. But I know enough to know that the case deserves to go to court.
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{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
One of the things I do when I travel is that if I am packing something valuable or unique, is to take pictures of both it and my luggage before I depart. Then I make sure to bring my digital camera on the flight.
That way, if my bags get lost, I can show pictures to the airline personnel to aid them in finding my bag. Or to a jury if need be. :-)
This one is simple. The limitations on liability only apply to luggage that has been checked in in accordance with the contract. You never checked the luggage in, they never tagged, thus, the limitations on liability do not apply. There is a long list of case law on this topic, along with the Warsaw Convention issues pertaining to limitation of liability on international trips, on the exact same issue, i.e., what the airline needs to do in order to invoke its liability limitations. The Warsaw convention has not been amended since the advent of the internet – in order for the convention to apply and the liability limits to attach they need to make certain notations ‘on your ticket’, which is defined as the ticket issued by or on behalf of the carrier. These limitations are NEVER put in your ticket, they are ini the computer records, which is not your ticket under the definition.
There is a negligence count, predicted on res ipsa locquitor, i.e., if not for negligence it would not have happened, and permanently losing luggage is one of those things.
This ALL being said – has Anjun Malik checked with lost and found at three airports? The origin, EWR and PVD? I’d call those three places – the bag may very well be sitting there. No one from the airline is going to go look, and no one from the airport is gonna make an effort to find the owner.
I cannot believe that, if the facts stated can be proven, that Continental will win this one.
Even when bags are labeled, they do not always make their correct destinations.
I had a flight going from Memphis to Detroit to Flint. I was spending a day in Flint visiting my grandmother before driving on to my mother’s house. My bag did not arrive in Flint and I had to file a lost bag claim. I was lucky and received a call within 2 hours letting me know they had located my bag and it had been left in Detroit but was on the next flight into Flint. They would deliver it that evening. Later that evening after no bag arrived, I called back only to discover it had arrived in Flint and accidently been sent back to Detroit. The person I spoke with was able to change the information on my bag to fly the next day from Detroit to MBS near my mother’s house. The next day when I called to check on it, I found it the bag had gone to Flint again. There are no flights from Flint to MBS, so they were having to send it to Detroit yet again. I call again to check later to learn my bag had left Detroit and accidently been sent to Atlanta. My bag finally arrived after 4 days of airport shuffles. Amazingly the bag was also in good condition from all that extra handling. I also received compensation for all the days I was without my bag without having to argue at all.
Almost makes me wish I could collect some frequent flier miles for my bag. The part I can look back at now and laugh on is that they always knew exactly where the bag was. They were just unable to get it to the correct destination.
Continental needs to make good on its screw up. Plain and simple. However, when I fly, everything that is of any value is in my “personal item,” which is usually a small totebag that fits underneath the seat. Nothing of any value ever leaves my clutches. I’m not saying this woman’s loss was her fault, by any means. I’m just paranoid.
I guess the question would be, does the prosecution carry the burden of proof with the “heirloom jewelry”? If not, then what else can she claim? The maltese falcon? A monkey paw with two fingers still up?
Continental does need to own up, regardless.
A plaintiff or the prosecution always has the burden of proving what was lost and the value of the item, that might be a challenge for anyone. Heirloom jewelry is not worth more than any other kind of jewelry – unless it has some unique value unrelated to the metals and stones it contains. ‘Used’ jewelry is worth the content of the stones and metal – thats all. Used heirloom jewelry is even older – so the airline lawyers will claim its worth less!!!
Obviously this worth significant dollars here since the airline has hired a lawyer, even if in house and admitted in the state she is suing in, since they went to the trouble of filing a motion to dismiss. I love to watch lawyers flounder wasting client resources on losing efforts . . .
I had a Delta Connecition flight from CVG to PHL. My carry-on bag (a very small wheeled bag no bigger than a lap top but about 5 inches deep) had to be gate checked as it would not fit into the overhead bin of the Embraer we were flying…. no big deal.
It was raining in PHL when we arrived and I waited for my gate check bag in the jet bridge. And waited, and waited. No bag. I asked the ramp agent for my bag and showed her my claim ticket. She told me the bag was not there. Only after two additional searches did they find the bag located on the ground. Apparently it had fallen from the jet bridge when the ramp agent had opened the door, smashed into the tarmac and broke the laptop. No apologies, just “Oh here’s the bag.”
Now the laptop belongs to the company I work for so I was not out anything and our company’s insurance covered it. But still, Delta Connection had no way of knowing this and the employees involved should have at least offered an apology.
This is a really important issue, given that at the same time we are being told the only way to prevent TSA stealing our stuff is to put anything we want to keep in carry on bags. The problem with that statement is the implicit assurance that the carry on bag will be safe. Apparently not.
Theft of and from carry ons is an issue at security checkpoints too. I absolutely will not walk thru the metal detector until I have seen my bags enter the screening machine (i.e., pass under the black cloth). I am always surprised at other (impatient) passengers and TSA employees who do not understand why this is important.
My mom taught me this years ago and I have followed this ever since – wear your jewelry. Don’t pack it in a checked bag or even your carry on. When she travels, she often wears sweat pants, a t-shirt, three necklaces and her best diamond earrings.
I Would love to know the outcome of this case.. Elliot, can we get an update?
Has there been any update on this? I’m very intersted in finding out how it’s turned out
This case is still pending. You can find more info about the whole mess at Flyersrights.org. You can also find youtube videos of Anjum giving interviews on behalf of Flyersrights through their websites.
Terrible Story indeed, we’ve made a video of this story, please check it out at:
CON-tinental: A Story of Unsuspected Crooks
look at the UTube video ..its hilarious
Her stuff most probably landed up at
http://www.unclaimedbaggage.com
I looked at this case for a school project and frankly thought that the high powered airline attorneys were spinning it around, confusing a simple issue.
Malik only had one carry on, it was in a bin a few seats away from her, the airline moved it without letting her know. They then LOST it. They should have treated her better. She had several items on her cc statements but Co didnot want to do anything withour actual store receipts and in addition would not cover jewelery, cosmetics, medicine, leather goods, electronics, items of sentimental value (what , if anything is left besides the suitcase itself!) so the matter went to court. I am curious to know how much Co spent on their lawyers…easily in the six figures by all accounts.
Malik should have been compensated and the airline should have apologised.
Co probably does not realise the loss for them in terms of bad publicity and if they do then most likely they dont care.
Malik is very active with Flyers Rights and I am so glad to see the progress that group has made. The founder was stuck on a tarmac in Austin Texas which is perhaps how Malik and she met. The two are always in DC lobbying Congreess for an airline passenger bill and our leaders are now beginning to listen…change is on its way!