WR Cage

Since the Montreal Convention was called into play, I thought it would be helpful to actually quote the convention. The particular clause at hand is Article 17 paragraph 3 which reads:
http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/a...26/page-7.html

At 21 days the passenger can submit a lost bag claim form and request payment for the lost bag. Alternately if the airline agrees the bag is lost at an early date than 21 days, the compensation process can be started by the passenger earlier than 21 days.

However at no time does the Montreal convention stipulate that the airline must immediately payout the claim. Rather the airline must accept the lost claim and begin the lost bag compensation/redress process. This means the compensation process starts at 21 days, not conclude on 21 days.

Based on the above, it is not appropriate to say that AC is not applying the Montreal Convention simply because they have not compensated the passenger by end of business on day 21.

WR Cage

Under the rules applicable to ORD, only UA and AA onward connection bags can be processed at T5, all other airline onward connections must have the bags transported by the pax to the other airline.

For UA instancel pax connecting international inbound to T5 and onward to through AC, LH, or NH must bring their bags to either T1 or T2.

I believe the same goes for AA inbound pax connecting onward to JL NRT flight, which leaves from T3k.

Now in all fairness to the UA agents at the bag belt, if they see a UA cardstock BP and a UA bag tag, on cursory glance the situation looks legit. So place it on the belt and send the pax on their way. UA also flies to YYZ, so its not out of the question for the connection to be thought of as solely within UA.

flyerCO

I've had no issue doing so. AFAIK It's not eligible for ITI, but no issue dropping a labeled bag at re-check when inbound from UA international to AC Trans border. Since AC departs same area as and I believe is handled by UA, there's no difference in getting the bag to a UA or AC flight.

Northern Canuck

The bag has been lost for a month. The passenger has filed a lost baggage notice and talked with AC agents. An agent said it is too early to discuss compensation. After 21 days, clearly it is not. Of course no one would expect AC to advise the passenger of his rights and explain to him how things work, especially a foreigner who's first language is probably not English. That is just not AC's way. I am sure after being advised by a passenger advocate the proper paper work will be filed and AC will pay and pay again for the bad publicity.

Lllahim

With the technology now available, AC should now be able to walk up to a missing bag instantaneously. Stop blaming the victim. They lose my bag every February four years running. The reason is different each time. The result for me is the same.

kwflyer

I disagree. Good leadership is all about doing the right things, not doing things right or what one can get away with.

Its clear if AC can't communicate their responsibilities (under law), however inconvenient, that regulation is needed.

The story here isn't about what the customer should (or shouldn't) have packed (thats just effective pile on fodder to drive/fly his thesis home), its that AC didn't care to do anything until :

a) after 21 days to which AC should have asked for the value of the lost baggage and provided prompt payment

b) after going to the media (priming everyone else to do the same)

segacs

So let's review: A passenger lost his bag. The airline, instead of acting according to its obligations under international conventions and its own tariffs, tried to duck, obfuscate and outright lie about its responsibility.

The passenger went online for recourse. At which point, instead of helping him, people here took it upon themselves to: Call him names, accuse him of stupidity, defend the airline, call him attention-seeking for going to the media, and disparage anyone who was trying to help him exercise his rights.

Does that about cover it?

I don't care whether he should or shouldn't have packed certain things in his checked luggage. That's not at issue here. Whatever he packed in his checked bag, he had the right to get it back upon arrival. Since he didn't get it back, he had the right to seek compensation from the airline.

This isn't a one-time issue with AC. AC routinely tries to duck its responsibilities here. If it didn't, people wouldn't have to go to the media or take them to court. They could simply file a claim, get reimbursed, end of story.

The Canadian Transportation Agency has the power to compel AC to follow the rules, or to impose punitive damages for trying to get out of it. It doesn't do its job.

Is it any wonder people go to the media or to court? They're not asking for anything other than that which they are entitled to by law.

The airline apologists on here frankly baffle me.

JustSomeGuy1978

In a world where I can track my fedex package from pick up to processing to transit to "out for delivery" to delivery. I am amazed that we cannot do the same with luggage. The bag tag is a unique identifier that, presumably, is scanned at multiple points along it's journey.

I'm not saying everyone should have a luggage tracking tool (as you would with fedex above) but when things do go wrong at least being able to track the bag to it's last point before disappearing can give some comfort to the passenger, as well as being able to focus their search.

kwflyer

Well, to be fair, some of them did go crying to the G&M after their horrendous experience of travelling in Y overseas, vowing to never fly Y again.

Yet, they still expect others to put up with it (modern day travel hassles), and fundamentally attributing any service failure to the individual, for not travelling like them.



No word if that was OPM though.

24left

Well.......

QUOTE from ABC News Nov 2016

"On Tuesday, Delta Airlines will become the first major airline to allow fliers to track their checked bags with a smartphone app.

The airline hopes the new system will ease the stress of flying with checked baggage for its passengers -- and reduce its percentage of lost, unclaimed items.

"We mishandle less than two bags for every 1,000," said Bill Lentsch, senior vice president of airport customer service and airline operations.

"This technology here is going to drop that number by 10 to 20 percent," he said. "It's already starting to lower our mishandled baggage rate."

Retailers and shippers have used similar systems for years, but Delta will be the first to provide customers with the option to stay informed about the whereabouts of their bags through an app with push notifications.

"We believe this is a game-changer and we believe this will drive the industry into the next level of performance," Lentsch said."........

http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/delta-a...ry?id=43529976


And this one from Engadget Oct 2016

"Delta's RFID luggage tracking system now includes a map view"

https://www.engadget.com/2016/10/25/...stem-map-view/

just saying.....

segacs

This is awesome!

flyquiet

I agree with you. I should have put "business" in cynical quote marks.

Jumper Jack

There is also the letter of the law versus the spirit of the law.

Sometimes doing the right thing is beyond being just, but being morally correct as well.

segacs

In this case, it seems like they're liable under both the letter and the spirit of the law. The passenger doesn't seem to be asking for goodwill; he's asking for what he's entitled to by law.

I agree with your statement in general, but I don't really see how it applies to this specific case.

24left

YES!

All announced last October (2016)

The articles I linked were two of more than a dozen from mainstream media, business media (Forbes, Fortune...) and sources like The Verge, MacRumors, The Next Web...each with their own focus based on their target audience.