lost luggage american airlines

Toronto woman still waiting for compensation after American Airlines lost her luggage

A Toronto woman is speaking out against a U.S.-based airline after the carrier allegedly lost her baggage and still has not compensated her for her losses even three months later. 

Rosalind Smye Morton told blogTO that she organized a trip with her family of four to visit her parents in South Carolina in May with American Airlines. 

Despite facing some minimal issues during the flight down south — which included having to sit on the tarmac for three hours — the family faced their greatest obstacle when they were preparing to fly back to Toronto four days later. 

Prior to their return flight from South Carolina, Morton tells blogTO that her family was forced to give up all four of their carry-on bags at the gate since the aircraft's luggage compartments were full. 

After making a connection stop in Washington D.C., the family arrived home in Toronto and went to the luggage conveyor belt to retrieve their bags. After waiting for some time, Morton says she realized that their four bags were never coming. 

Despite lining up in the lost luggage claim line for some time, the family went home empty-handed, with no indication of where their bags might be. 

"The next day we went off to school and work, without having all our necessary belongings, including toiletries, the kid's homework, my teacher preparation notes from my job, etc.," Morton wrote in a letter to the American Airlines CEO. 

"These four bags were all we had. We had not expected to have to relinquish carry-ons. We would have left with nothing but the shirts on our backs for the short trip, and lost precious family time shopping for necessities out of pocket."

Finally, after four days, three out of the four bags were returned to the family, with Morton's personal bag still missing.

On the fifth day, she began the process of submitting her claim online, which she says required her to input travel information as well as an "unreasonable amount of details" about her lost items. 

"I was asked to itemize everything one by one, with cost, label, store purchased, and to include receipts for everything over $100... I do not understand why anyone would be asked for receipts for items they have owned for months or years," Morton wrote in the letter. 

"Does anyone in the world keep receipts for every piece of clothing they own?" 

A week later, Morton says she received a response from American Airlines with an apology and was given more forms to fill out. She estimates that the items she lost were valued at approximately $5,000 in total.

"I live in Canada, and the summer season weather is only about four months.  In my bag were my bathing suits, flip flops, summer dresses, shorts, and best t-shirts, basically my summer wardrobe essentials," she wrote in a letter to the American Airlines CEO. 

"I am a competitive runner, who runs every day.  Half of my weekly running wardrobe was in there including my running shoes and Garmin watch. Unfortunately, due to the misfortune of lost equipment and the stress of this travel experience, I was forced to drop out of a race I had been training for the first week of June."

Morton says she has been sharing her experience with the airline on Facebook in hopes that the company will improve its customer service and handling of lost luggage claims. 

"I am not a wealthy person. I do not have several thousand dollars available to replace my summer wardrobe. Already I have spent close to $3,000 out of pocket," Morton said. 

At the time of this article's publication, Morton says she has still not received any compensation for her lost items from American Airlines.

"A well-established airline that loses a customer's belongings should be offering compensation within weeks not months," Morton said. 

blogTO reached out to American Airlines for comment on Morton's case but did not receive a response back in time for this article's publication. 

Lead photo by

Jack Landau


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