We were reading The Consumerist and discovered this story, about a man who tracked down a baggage handler who stole a digital camera out of his checked luggage, had him prosecuted, and received a less than pleasant response from Delta.
Delta’s position is that since he did travel…they will not compensate him for the actions of their employee. Airlines in their contracts of carriage forego liability for valuables. It is surprising that organizations like Fedex and UPS can get so many packages from point A to point B without incident…and pay compensation claims to the shippers if something is damaged in transit. Why airlines seem to be unable to or unwilling to do the same is a mystery.