Danielle Covarrubias was understandably upset when she discovered that American Airlines had lost her suitcase, but she became really mad when the airline then refused to refund her $25 baggage fee. That’s when she decided to sue American Airlines for $5 million. The class action lawsuit, filed on behalf of Covarrubias of Pierce County, Wash., is the first since American Airlines started to charge a fee for handling and transporting luggage in June 2008, according to industry experts.
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“It just goes to show you how enraged people are by the lack of common-sense regulation in the airline industry,” said George Hobica, an aviation expert and creator of airfarewatchdog.com. “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.” [...] “This case … is about an entire industry that has lost touch with its customers,” Casey Ingels, one of Covarrubias’ lawyers, said in a statement.
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American Airlines damages, loses or delays more than 2,400 pieces of luggage every day.
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The fees, the lawsuit said, represented a “clear and unambiguous agreement with passengers to handle bags with care, and deliver them to their destination in a timely fashion.”