OshoProject

Hello all,

Working from a PR perspective with a high-profile client on the following suspicious and unusual case:

- First Class/ high-tier frequent flier passenger checked in at LAX for a transatlantic flight on a major international carrier.
- Passenger was informed by airline airport manager that the check in agent would be manually passing luggage to TSA screening.
- One piece of luggage disappeared from the system minutes after check-in but after security screening.
- Airline refuses to provide any information as to where/ how the bag was lost.
- When asked by passenger, airline initially refused to file police report at LAX.
- Passenger later got information that a police report had been filed. Airline now admits a police report was filed but airline refuses to provide passenger a copy of the report.
- Airline continues to be defensive, unhelpful and won't answer any questions.

Can anyone give us any insights or advice on this strange case?

LondonElite

I'm a little confused by your post. What system did the bag disappear from if it was hand luggage? Sounds like an airport agent took or misplaced this bag. Press on the police report or threaten to go to the police yourself. Adjectives like high-profile/tier are meaningless in this context and superfluous.

Doc Savage

Very little of this makes sense.

Why and how in the world would carryon luggage be taken from the passenger by anyone except the TSA <screener>?

If it's checked luggage, the passenger should have a bag tag.

The owner, not the airline, would be the one to file a police report.

As I said, very little of this makes any sense.

MSPeconomist

What airline? DL and maybe some others allow you to track where your bag is in the system? In fact, is this how the passenger discovered that the bag disappeared just after TSA screening? Were there valuables that would have been obvious when the bag was X-rayed?

Did the passenger use the regular international FC check in area or some private VIP area? In fact, I'm surprised that the airport manager would appear for an ordinary check in.

Can the passenger request a copy of the police report directly from the police since it concerns the passenger's own belongings?

nux

Can you elaborate on what this means?

Was this checked luggage or hand luggage?

Disappeared from what system?

RoyalFlush

Isn't a police report public information?

84fiero

It is indeed - OP should contact the police department to obtain a copy.

While I don't think there is anything that unusual about a lost bag per se, there are some odd parts from the OP that could be cleared up:

All checked bags (assuming this is a checked bag?) go through TSA security screening so what is so unusual here? Is "manually passing...to TSA" supposed to connote some deviation from a standard procedure?

What airline was it?

How do you know that it disappeared "minutes after check-in"? To what "system" are you referring.

If you know for certain that it "disappeared minutes after check-in", it seems that the loss would have happened somewhere within LAX, most likely presumably near where TSA screening takes place if the bag was supposed to be heading there from the check-in counter.

Although I guess moot now, since the passenger can get a copy of the report themselves, why wouldn't the passenger have filed their own police report?

Has the passenger actually filed a claim with the airline?

lin821

I assume OP meant he either gets paid for the PR job or is working on a project.

FTers are giving out free advice instead:

drminn

I think what the OP means is that the agent offered to transfer the checked luggage to TSA, rather than have the passenger do it themselves. At some airports some airlines (and I don't know which airline OP is talking about) make you carry your luggage to the TSA belt after it has been tagged.

Often1

If this is for real, it sounds as if the passenger needs to hire someone who knows what they are doing. Otherwise, this one is fishy.

MSPeconomist

The passenger or the OP?

lin821

(my underline)

Perhaps the passenger had hired OP?

LondonElite

Both, obviously!

Need

If I remember correctly, a few years ago at LAX, you check in your luggage at the counter. They tag it and put it on a cart. A porter guy will push the cart to the luggage scanner which is right by the doors to the outside. The luggage are unload in a line waiting to be scanned. Once it is scanned, it goes to the back to load on plane and you get to go. You are suppose to follow your luggage to the TSA scanner and wait until it is scanned and everything was fine before you leave and go to the gate.

Maybe this person didn't follow the porter guy to the scanner and just left to the gate. And one luggage was missing? The porter guy could have been distracted and someone grabbed it and out the door. Or he dropped it. Or someone grabbed it while it was waiting to be scanned.

JDiver

A few years ago that might have been. But this year I've seen people check in at ticket and baggage check-in counters at LAX, from whence it goes to inspection behind the counter and passenger check-in areas.