Passengers Will Now Receive Compensation for Damaged Luggage
Joe Cortez December 03, 2015
New DOT ruling requires airlines to accept damage reports and provide compensation for all damage to luggage.
Flyers’ luggage will soon have a new level of protection thanks to an investigation by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). In a press release, the DOT handed down notice to airlines operating in American skies, noting they will soon be obligated to compensate passengers for any luggage damage that takes place while bags are under their care.
Under the new regulations, airlines carrying flyers’ checked luggage would be responsible for any damage that takes place to the bags outside of normal wear-and-tear, including damage to wheels, handles, straps and zippers. Previously, these items were not covered under many airlines’ policies. Furthermore, airlines will be obligated to accept all reports of luggage damage even if the airline does not believe they are at fault.
The new rules come after an investigation of both domestic and foreign airlines operating at 16 American airports in September 2015. The undercover operation discovered that some airlines did not accept damage reports from passengers. In addition, the DOT says their probe yielded several potential violations of transportation rules, with investigations pending on those outstanding items.
“These inspections demonstrate the Department’s commitment to protecting consumers when they travel by air,” DOT secretary Anthony Foxx said in a statement. “While we are proud of the progress we’ve made so far, we will continue to strengthen how we monitor and enforce compliance with air travel consumer protection and civil rights rules.”
Airlines will have until January 9 to change their luggage policies. Those who do not will be subject to enforcement action by the DOT Aviation Enforcement Office.
[Photo: Getty]
Based on what I observed United Express personnel doing to customer bags at SFO, while watching out a window of the United Club there, i.e., tossing them over eight feet into a cart, letting them drop five feet or more off a moving belt onto the tarmac when coming off an aircraft, and stacking them too high onto a cart so that they also fell onto the tarmac when the cart started moving away from the aircraft, it's about time the airlines started being held more responsible for damage to pax baggage.
Guess baggage handlers are going to be forced to stop throwing bags around willy nilly. Time to start gently placing bags from the cart onto the belt.
@brocklee9000 - not sure many folks want to travel with a dead bag just to make - what?- a $20 claim. Not like you're going to present a broken circa 1980 El Cheapo and get Louis Vuitton as a replacement. More likely you're going to get depreciated value with a 20 buck minimum for a destroyed bag.
Excellent news!
Where was this 6 months ago? Knock on wood, in my 25 years, I've only had one damaged and lost bag, and it was a single incident in August. My bag was left at SEA all day long. Filed a claim, DL found it, flew it to SLC, and a valet service delivered it. First thing I noticed is the handle wouldn't extend, and when I muscled it out, it wouldn't go back in. Unzipping the liner revealed the two thick aluminum tubes that contain the handle had a nice, clean break in the exact same spot, making it look as if my bag was dropped, possibly from a considerable height, onto the edge of some very hard platform or surface, hence the nice clean break (not a bend or slow stress crack). So while this will be great when it's implemented in a few weeks, it's a shame it took this long to come to fruition. And will this only apply to claims made at the baggage office at the time the bag was picked up? Or could this extend a day or two, like in the case of my bag which was damaged and then eventually delivered to my door? And on a related note, this always makes me wonder how exactly someone can prove damage was caused by an airline. I could bring a beat up almost-dead bag, or a bag that was already structurally damaged, check it, and then claim it was damaged by the airline. So while I'm glad this is being implemented, I also hope there is at least SOME sort of measure in place to prevent abuse of the policy.