My personal experience after 5 lost-and-found reports to different airlines over the last 15 years: if the item is not recovered immediately, it will typically not re-surface later. In 4 out of my 5 cases the electronic gadgets I had forgotten were not recovered. Another recent case: Last week Mrs. CalFlyer forgot a Bose headset in the backseat storage of her economy seat (on LH). She noticed her loss 10 mins after deplaning and went back to the gate immediately. The cleaning crew had already been on board, and of course the headset was never found ...

The airlines gave me (and her) always the same response, "not our responsibility". Frankly, I think this is appalling. With the number of items forgotten on airplanes and a probably low recovery ratio (at least judging from my limited personal experience), there must be some form of "organized trade" going on with laptops, cameras, iPods, iPads and the like forgotten on planes. The airlines must know about this, but accept this theft to happen, most likely by their subcontractors (the cleaning crews).

If something is forgotten on a plane, it does not mean that the owner is giving up his ownership rights. Not returning it is a crime in most countries. Maybe airlines can charge a finder's fee if the administrational effort of returning items to the rightful owner is too much.