Airline must compensate traveller for lost jewelry, B.C. tribunal rules

British Columbia’s Civil Resolution Tribunal ordered Flair Airlines to pay $500 to a traveller who said her jewelry was stolen from a checked bag on a flight from Mexico to Vancouver. The case involved Henriette Tams, who discovered the next morning after a late-night landing in February 2024 that her bag had been repacked and her jewelry pouch was missing. Tams claimed the pouch contained nine items valued individually from $15 to $535.24, but she said she did not have receipts or documents to prove those amounts, estimating total value at $868.73. Flair argued it was not responsible and pointed to an international tariff that treats jewelry as unacceptable for checked baggage. The tribunal ruled that airlines are liable under the Carriage by Air Act and the Montreal Convention for registered baggage while in their care, and Flair didn’t provide evidence for the tariff or that it warned her beforehand. The member also applied a “betterment” principle due to limited proof of value.