The B.C. Civil Resolution Tribunal has ordered Flair Airlines to pay a passenger $500 in damages after jewelry went missing from her checked baggage on a flight from Mexico to Vancouver. The passenger travelled home on Flair in February 2024. According to the tribunal decision, she noticed the following morning that her suitcase appeared to have been repacked and that a pouch containing jewelry was missing. She initially reported the missing items to Flair by text on Feb. 7, 2024. After receiving no response, she submitted another report through the airline’s website on April 10. Flair later acknowledged the claim and apologized for the missing items. However, the airline ultimately rejected the claim because the passenger had not provided an itemized list or receipts supporting the value of the jewelry. The passenger provided the tribunal with a list of nine missing jewelry items, with a combined claimed value of $868.73. The individual items ranged from about $15 to more than $535.
Flair argued that jewelry and other valuable items should not have been placed in checked baggage. The airline said its international tariff required jewelry to be carried in the passenger’s carry-on luggage. Tribunal member Amanda Binnie acknowledged that passengers should generally avoid placing valuable items in checked luggage. However, she found that Flair had not provided evidence of the relevant tariff or demonstrated that the passenger had been informed before her flight that jewelry was restricted to carry-on baggage. The tribunal concluded that, under the Montreal Convention and Canada’s Carriage by Air Act, an airline can be responsible for the loss of registered baggage while it is under the carrier’s care.
However, the passenger was not awarded the full $868.73 she had claimed. The tribunal noted that she did not provide receipts, photographs or other evidence establishing the age and condition of the jewelry or independently verifying its claimed value. Flair was ordered to pay $500 in damages, along with $38.68 in interest and $67.50 toward the passenger’s tribunal fees. The total amount Flair must pay is $606.18, and the tribunal ordered the airline to make the payment within 30 days. The decision highlights the importance of keeping receipts and other documentation for valuable belongings when travelling. It also shows that airlines may have legal responsibilities for checked baggage while it remains in their custody, even when passengers are advised to keep valuable items in their carry-on luggage.
For travellers, airlines generally recommend keeping jewellery, cash, identification, medication and other high-value or essential items in carry-on baggage rather than checked luggage.