DOT increases award for baggage lost, damaged on U.S. flights
Andrew Compart, Travel Weekly, 2/5/2007
Passengers on domestic U.S. flights soon will be eligible for more compensation for lost, delayed or damaged baggage.
The Transportation Dept., following a prescribed formula, said it is raising the domestic travel minimum baggage liability limit -- the cap airlines can place on how much they pay a passenger in compensation -- from $2,800 to $3,000. The new minimum takes effect Feb. 28.
Airlines can set their minimum higher than $3,000, if they choose to.
The minimum liability limit had languished for 15 years at $1,250, an amount set in February 1984. But in January 2000, amid campaigns for more rights for airline passengers, the DOT doubled the minimum to $2,500 and said it would review the federal Consumer Price Index every two years to adjust the figure.
The rule does not apply to baggage compensation on international flights, which is regulated by international agreements. For those flights, minimum limits are established by either the Montreal Convention or the older Warsaw Convention.
The U.S. has ratified the Montreal Convention, which provides for a minimum baggage liability of about $1,400 per passenger. That means that amount applies to anyone whose travel originates in the U.S.
Liability under the older Warsaw Convention is based on the weight of the checked bag with a minimum limit of about $9.07 per pound.
For travel originating outside of the U.S., the traveler usually needs to see which treaty the countries involved in the journey have ratified. But there will soon a notable exception.
To simplify passenger claims that arise from international flights, the Air Transport Association said, ATA-member airlines with international service voluntarily drafted an intercarrier agreement last year in which they agreed to follow the rules of the more modern Montreal Convention regardless of where the flight originates. Non-ATA airlines also can sign on to the agreement.
The DOT approved the agreement in November and it should take effect within a few months.
The airlines still have to file some implementing documents with the DOT, which is expected soon, and implementation would begin 60 days after that.