U.S. Travelers Sue British Airways in Mishandled Luggage Case
Three U.S. travelers filed a proposed class action lawsuit Sept. 6 against British Airways over mishandled luggage, seeking to recover actual losses incurred by themselves and other international travelers on the airline whose luggage was lost, damaged or delayed over the past two years.
British Airways spokesman John Lampl said the airline is aware the lawsuit has been filed, but cannot comment on active litigation.
The Montreal Convention, an international agreement that establishes airline liability for passengers and their baggage on international flights, includes a $1,500 loss limit for mishandled baggage. But the lawsuit argues the Montreal Convention waives the loss limit when the carrier is “reckless and has knowledge that damage would probably result,” and that this applies to British Airways because of its high rate of mishandled bags.
British Airways, the lawsuit argued, “has not given its passengers notice of its inadequate baggage handling system.”
The latest Association of European Airlines report, for the second quarter of 2007, shows BA mishandled 28 bags per 1,000 passengers, compared to an average of 16 bags for the 23 European airlines that report their figures to the AEA. The AEA reported a mishandled baggage rate for BA of 23 per 1,000 passengers for all of 2006.
As a point of comparison, U.S. carriers reported an average domestic mishandled baggage rate of 7.92 per 1,000 passengers in June, with the worst rate for American Eagle at 15.91, according to Transportation Dept. statistics.
While British Airways would not comment on the lawsuit, Lampl did say the airline expects its baggage handling numbers to improve this fall as the number of passengers and their baggage drop with the end of peak season.
