American Airlines Sued For $5 Million After They Lose Passenger's Luggage

When most of us lose our luggage, we get mad, maybe throw a temper tantrum and ask the airline in question for help. Not Danielle Covarrubias. First she paid $25 to check her bag on American Airlines. Then they lost it and refused to refund her $25. In turn, she is suing them for $5 million, according to ABC News.

Covarrubias filed a class action lawsuit in her native Pierce County, Washington against the airline when they lost her luggage on a Seattle-Grand Rapids, Mich. flight. It's the first lawsuit since American started charging for bags in 2008 (it was also the first major carrier to impose checked baggage fees).

"It just goes to show you how enraged people are by the lack of common-sense regulation in the airline industry," George Hobica, an aviation expert and creator of airfarewatchdog.com, told ABC News. "It doesn't make any sense at all that somebody should charge for a service and then screw up and not give you your money back."

Covarrubias waited for the next flight to arrive but her bag--with more than $800 of her possessions--wasn't on it, according to court papers. She spent more than $300 on new clothing and toiletries and then waited another 24 hours for news from the airline. "In her last conversation with American Airlines ... she was told nothing could be done," the lawsuit said. The airline refused her demand for a refund of the baggage fee.

An American Airlines spokesman said the carrier was reviewing the lawsuit and offered no immediate comment.

"We already do allow customers to include a checked bag charge refund request in their baggage claim if they file one for other damages and the claim is accepted for full or partial payment," the spokesman, Tim Smith, said. It's unclear whether Covarrubias filed such a claim. She's not alone, though, in her frustrations: American Airlines damages, loses or delays more than 2,400 pieces of luggage every day.

Comments

[Daoine]

12:42 PM on 08/05/2010

Didn't airlines used to offer insurance that could be purchased at boarding for loss of luggage?

[TimRivers]

11:54 AM on 07/25/2010

While I don't agree with suing for every little thing, when an airline "loses" your luggage, the passenger (consumer) shouldn't have to ASK for a refund, it should be automatic on the airline's part. The airline industry, for years now, has treated their customers like an inconvenience rather than the reason they are in business.

[missnonnie]

03:06 PM on 07/24/2010

By the way, the airline may indeed have said that there was nothing they could do (as far as finding the lost luggage), but I seriously doubt they refused to refund the checked baggage fee. My luggage was lost last year when the airline industry first instituted the fees, and when I complained to an airline rep, I was told that there was a form I could fill out to request a refund. My luggage was found the following day, so I chose not to pursue the matter.

[rhymney]

08:11 PM on 07/24/2010

According to the airline, her luggage was returned the next day too.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/07/23/bag.fee.lawsuit/index.html

[KIVPossum]

10:23 AM on 07/25/2010

Aha!

[missnonnie]

03:01 PM on 07/24/2010

Some of the info in this account appears to be in error, or perhaps it simply hasn't been updated. American Airlines does not fly directly from Seattle to Grand Rapids. This woman had a stopover in Chicago, and the connecting flight was canceled. AA then rebooked her on another airline so she would still get to Grand Rapids in time. It was the other airline that lost her luggage. An airline rep hand-delivered it to her hotel the next day!! Sh*t happens, lady! Deal with it. Sometimes I take time out of work for a doctor's appointment and he's late or has an emergency and has to cancel. Should I sue him for the hours of sick time I had to use?! Give me a break. There is a world of difference between a tragic event that deserves compensation and mistakes that happen in every day life. Can you imagine if each one of us could be sued anytime we made a human error? With the number of bags the airlines handle, I'm surprised they don't lose more luggage. Give the girl her 25 bucks and tell her to get some perspective on life.

[MarkInEugene]

10:38 AM on 07/25/2010

...the voice of a reason folks!

[MarkInEugene]

07:49 PM on 07/23/2010

Every single American carries the burden of the millions that go to a few selfish, entitled individuals that insist on huge compensatory damages for everyday things the vast majority of us just deal with. It makes me sick when attorneys file this suits that never harm the people with the cash. It always comes back to the average person in insidious hard to recognize ways.

[KIVPossum]

10:23 AM on 07/25/2010

Agree completely

[Daoine]

12:33 PM on 08/05/2010

Fanned and faved!

[Angelus2007]

06:16 PM on 07/23/2010

I don't have a problem with her suing, but $5 million is insane, she should get her $25 of course, the $800 of stuff, and give her a refund for tickets, plus time and inconvience. Maybe $5,000. $5 million should be reserved for peoples whose lives have been ruined. Bad accidents, disabilities ect. I could understand my vacation being ruined, but come on.

I have been in a similar situation, AA lost me baggage when I was flying from Reagan to Dallas and had to buy about $50 in stuff. They found it and I got it the next day, they gave me a cab voucher from my hotel to and from the airport to get m bag and $100 voucher for my next flight. They didn't refund my baggage fee, but I would rather had the $100 voucher. Was it a pain? Yes, am I glad it happened? No, but they were helpful and polite, and did what they could. Accidents happen. When you move millions of pieces of luggage a day, some are bound to get lost.

[SukiTheCat]

08:56 AM on 07/26/2010

apparently they returned her luggage the next day...suing for 5 millions dollars in this case is just absurd

[Daoine]

12:35 PM on 08/05/2010

Suing at ALL is absurd. She was inconvenienced...not permanently injured.

[GingerCat]

04:52 PM on 07/23/2010

I say good for her. The point of the lawsuit is not to get a bunch of money for herself or the others who join. Nobody's getting a big payday but the lawyers. It's to get someone to actually pay attention to this scam. Averaging $25 a bag and 2400 bags lost per day, AA is making roughly $21,900,000 per year losing people's bags. Add to that number the value of the lost possessions (or emergency replacements purchased) and AA customers are being bilked out of huge money by their greed and ineptitude.

Airlines like AA keep raising prices and offering nothing in return, because they can.

[pipetoe]

09:54 AM on 07/23/2010

Save a lawyer, file a class action law suit.

[DogDeer]

09:53 AM on 07/23/2010

Even if she wins the class action lawsuit and American Airlines is forced to pay something, the lawyers will take their 40% cut and the collective plaintiffs most likely will receive vouchers that will reduce the baggage fee for their next flight. That's the way these things usually work.

[2garen]

12:02 PM on 07/23/2010

So it is ok for the airline to get away with this? The idea here is to stop inappropriate behavior from the airlines.

[mivogo]

02:23 PM on 07/23/2010

You got it! When will Congress investigate this scam?
I guess when the majority of them aren't lawyers!

[mrsbowers]

09:35 AM on 07/23/2010

Good luck dear.

[kimleehan]

09:26 AM on 07/23/2010

There's only one thing I can think of in her bag that might be worth 5 million dollars and I don't think she's going to want to claim that.

[2garen]

12:07 PM on 07/23/2010

You miss the point. It does not matter what was in the suit case. What matters is the fee paid for a suit case that was entrusted to the airline. The airline was suppose to move the suitcase from point A to point B.That did not happen.
Now lets say you take your car in to get a new tire on your car. You pay for it. When you get your car back there is no new tire. You want your money back and the tire company says no.What would you do?

[MalloMel]

12:21 PM on 07/23/2010

...also, what if they lose your car. I guess some would feel it would be OK for them not to pay to replace it, and then charge for the tire on top of it.

[Daoine]

12:37 PM on 08/05/2010

Funny! :)

[Nicolai97214]

09:26 AM on 07/23/2010

Seems perfectly sane and reasonable to me. I'd have sued for a billion dollars

[MalloMel]

11:59 AM on 07/23/2010

Quit making things up. We're trying to be serious here.

[Dan Garfinkel]

09:20 AM on 07/23/2010

Wow. At 2400 bags a day, AA could make some extra money by charging $50 for each lost luggage voucher - a "service fee" for finding something they charged you $25 to handle. This really doesn't sound so far-fetched. They make a profit even if they refund the original $25.

[suzc]

09:13 AM on 07/23/2010

This is the kind of nonsense that makes people beg for tort reform!
Sure she should be angry and should be holding AA responsible.
But 5 mil? Gimmeabreak! She could work her entire life and not make that much.
The "punishment" is way out of line with the "crime."
And it makes her and her lawyers look like greedy opportunists instead of injured victim.

[Dan Garfinkel]

09:23 AM on 07/23/2010

It's not 5 mil for her alone - it's a class-action suit. There's no incentive for AA to improve their service if they have to pay out only a few hundred bucks. The amount of pay out has to exceed the total amount they take in with all the baggage fees they charge. In that context, 5 mil is actually low.

[Michael Monje Jr]

10:11 AM on 07/23/2010

Agreed. "Tort reform" is the meme for people who want to end truth-in-advertising lawsuits, medical malpractice suits, and wrongful death suits against companies who violate OSHA guidelines.

I'm sick of hearing that every citizen who objects to being charged for services that ARE NOT rendered is launching a "frivolous" lawsuit. The odds are already against consumers WITHOUT fellow workers and citizens voting to curb our strained rights further.

[suzc]

04:31 PM on 07/23/2010

A class action suit at least makes sense.

[Andy Manor]

11:58 AM on 07/23/2010

This is a class action suit. American has been charging for checked bags for quite some time now also. They lose roughly 2400 bags a day and if I was the attorney I'd sue for about $100 million. The main reason is the $25 for each person who had a bag lost without a refund of the checked bag fee, and the costs associated with filing the suit. If I'm not mistaken they have been charging for checking bags for the past 3 years. That comes out to roughly $65 million that they charged somebody to check a bag but didn't deliver that checked bag to it's destination with the passenger.

[BEvans]

08:57 AM on 07/23/2010

And if she wins, who do you think will pay for this...American Airlines? You...now do you think it is a good idea for her to do that...companies do not pay, you do...until you understand that, continue to think lawsuits are good.

[Dynamohum]

10:04 AM on 07/23/2010

There used to be a time that airlines had strict regulations and impeccable oversight by the FAA. Ronnie RAYGUN destroyed all that, just like he destroyed so many other things that worked quite well before he touched them.