Originally Posted by
BigLar
Back when I worked for an airline, there was a huge warehouse where all luggage that could not be re-united with its owner was stored. Every now and then we would take a little "shopping" trip through the warehouse and see if there was anything we could use.
Some of the stuff abandoned (apparently) was pretty bizarre, and often expensive. I know for a fact that the airline made mighty efforts to return it, but if the pax never filed a claim, did not mark the bag/package, and in general did not seem to care about it, what are they supposed to do?
Oh, well, that's a different problem. If the owner is uncontactable and/or doesn't make it known that he or she has lost something, there is little that the airline can do about it, as you say.
I once saw a list of things left on the London Underground and not claimed. As well as the usual (umbrellas, scarves, gloves, shopping bags) there were some truly bizarre ones, including (macabre though it is) a child's coffin - fortunately empty.