JetBlue Damaged Your Luggage. Who Should Pay for Repairs?

After a trip to Palm Beach, a Southampton woman checked a soft-sided Louis Vuitton bag with JetBlue for a flight to Long Island MacArthur. The 1970s heirloom did not arrive with the other luggage and, when it finally emerged, was ripped. She filed a claim, but JetBlue questioned her documentation — saying photos were in the wrong format and demanding an original receipt from a purchase made a half-century ago — while LVMH and American Express said they do not keep receipts that long.

A local repair shop restored the bag for $600. Federal rules make an air carrier responsible for provable damage to passengers’ property, with a domestic liability limit noted in the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations. Vintage Louis Vuitton pieces similar to the bag can fetch $1,000 to $2,000 on resale sites.

After correspondence with the airline, JetBlue reimbursed the $600 repair bill and issued a $500 travel credit; a JetBlue spokesman apologized for the inconvenience and said the matter had been resolved.

United States, Southampton; Palm Beach; Long Island

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