Alaska Airlines does a nice job taking care of customers one at a time – not always and in every case, of course, but on the whole my dealings with them have been just a touch more ‘human’ than average for the U.S. airline industry. So it didn’t surprise me to see this tweet about Alaska successfully recovering a laptop left on one of their planes.
I very stupidly, and very distractedly, left my laptop in the seat back pocket of my @AlaskaAir flight this afternoon. Less then two hours later I get a call back, laptop found, and I’m en route to pick it up. Thank you! A thanksgiving miracle! 🙏🦃
— ☁️ David Ulevitch ☁️ (@davidu) November 28, 2019
This shouldn’t be a standout, but how often do you expect to actually receive valuables returned to you if you’ve left them on a plane?
- Planes are supposed to be cleaned between each flight, seat pockets checked for trash for instance
- Airlines (at least most airlines besides Southwest) know exactly who is seated in every seat
- And they have contact information for passengers who book direct with them or who are members of the carrier’s frequent flyer program
Airlines have computer systems that can append notes to passenger records. Gate agents have computers. Flight attendants have tablets. Airline IT investment is massive.
It shouldn’t even take filing a lost and found claim to get your stuff back – the airline should be able to be proactive!
The reality though is much more complicated. Planes often get the barest once overs between flights if they are even cleaned at all. There’s very little incentive for contract cleaners or airline employees to go out of their way for customers. That takes extra effort that’s rarely rewarded.
I’ve forgotten jackets on planes many times. Usually the flight attendant working domestic first class just forgets to return them, and I get off the plane – only to realize immediately what I’ve done. That’s an easy recovery. The only real mistake I’ve made was in Singapore.
I once left a camera on board a Singapore Airlines flight from Bali to Singapore. I realized I’d left it by the time I made it to the train to change terminals. I went back to the gate, but there was no one there. I proceeded to Singapore’s lounge, told a staff member, and they got to work. The staff member found me while I was still in the lounge and let me know the camera would be waiting for me on the jetway boarding my next flight. Indeed there was an officer on the jetway who checked my ID and returned my camera.
That was a lucky break, and I was a premium cabin passenger on an airline that has the ability to go the extra mile in service. Airlines can and should be able to replicate it nearly every single time however.
@ Gary — Alaska is my new favorite airline. Too bad it is impossible/inconvenient to fly them from our home airport most of the time. I flew on an old US Airways A320 yesterday, and I had forgotten exactly how awful the pitch is in F. Seemed even worse than Delta.
Beats Hertz. I left my camera in the center armrest console between the front seats in Columbus, Ohio airport. I went back to the counter 3-4 minutes later and they denied they had it.
@ derek — Just be thankful that they didn’t arrest you.
I had a similar experience with Hertz. Management is either complicit or turns a blind eye to what is going on.
Left my iPad in first class on Asiana, in the pocket. Reported 2 hours later, was disappointed.
On the other hand, Cathay F!.My wife had a small object, like the tiny Swiss Army knife with just one blade. Confiscated at Hong Kong Customs. It was sentimental as l gift from my wife’s uncle. The Cathay employee escort assigned to help me through shipped it home on Cathay’s dime!
I recently stupidly left my tablet on a UA flight and I didn’t even realize till I got home.
Not five minutes after realizing that I had left my tablet on the plane, someone from UA’s local baggage office was calling me to tell me that they had my tablet.
I was shocked in a good way, I don’t generally have a good impression of UA.
I went back to the airport, thanked the staff and was reunited with my tablet.
New cell phone left in seat pocket on Cathay front cabin, Hong Kong to Bali, never to be seen again. Asked about it before leaving the airport, and before the flight took off.
I travelled into Vancouver on a Dash 8. Next morning I received a call from them saying they had found my keys. I told them I had not lost them. But yes – I had.
What happened is when I left Victoria they take your hand baggage at the entrance to the aircraft and it is put in the hold. Upon arrival your bag is waiting for you as you deplane. And mine was right there on the cart.
My wife picked me up and off we went home.
It turned out that my keys had fallen out of the bag unbeknown to me and a baggage handler had found them. The keys are expensive, over $300 to replace, so I had ID on them.
Thanks to the baggage handler, whoever you are.
I once left my iPad on a southwest flight from MDW -> BNA. I remember what seat I was on and filed an extremely detailed claim (included things like the flight tail number and where it was going after Nashville. They found it a couple weeks later and mailed it to me – it was an extremely cute reunion because the moment the iPad came within range of my campus’s Wi-Fi network, it started incessantly pinging me that it was available.
Years and years ago – before pads, mobiles, ear buds etc etc..I was flying Gatwick -Boston – San Francisco in business class on NorthWest. The transatlantic was wonderful on a dc10 and I still have the amenity kit bag. I had a separate ‘wash’ type bag for medication, tooth brush etc.
in my haste to get through immigration and to my onward flight to SFO, I left my wash type bag on the dc10. I popped over to the lost and found desk and explained what I had done. The form was filled, and was told that aircraft had gone out of service, so I might be lucky and get the bag back,
10 mins before boarding their was a tannoy message for me to go to list and found, where I was reunited with my washbag and most important – my medication!
That’s good old fashioned service !
PEOPLE are responsible for the stuff they leave behind. There are countless PA’s made to CHECK YOUR SEAT and surrounding areas. Take that time between TOD and the gate to verify. Don’t blame the airline for your ignorance. Now, if it gets stuck and you need it retrieved, that’s different.
You’d be amazed how many people leave valuables behind and then blame the airline. at my former airline, I would receive countless ipads and when speaking to the pax, they’d REFUSE to pay for it to be shipped back. So, they’d be advised of our holding period and subsequent transfer to a storage facility and ultimate bulk sale to a repurposing company. One the rare occassion their bag was lost, too, we’d throw the item into their bag for the delivery driver.
Airlines manage the lost items as a courtesy to customer service and a function of BSO. If you leave your headphones at a gym or restaurant are they REQUIRED to ship them to you? no. you’re SOL.
Guess what, those non-registered airpods of yours? GONE. Good luck finding those if those have been on the plane all day flying 5 legs. consider them- GONE.
Source? me. 19 years BSO leadership
My favorite Singapore lost and found story was when my wife left the baby’s stroller in the trunk of the cab. This was a street hail, so no contact information, but the cabbie remembered the street where he dropped her off, so he went door to door, after his shift was over, looking for the owner. Now, that’s good service!
I have two experiences with UA lost and found, one great and the other not so much. This was a few years back while I was on a flight from STI-EWR-BOS. I left my laptop in the seatback pocket on the STI-EWR leg. While in the arrivals hall at EWR, the gate agent called my cell phone asking if I could come back to the gate. I told the agent I was waiting for my and she offered for her colleague to deliver it to the gate where EWR-BOS was departing from. Picked it without any issues, thank you United.
Then in Jan 2022, EWR-BOS I did the same thing and didn’t realize until I got home. It was the last flight of the night so no one was answering phones at BOS and I had to use United’s Lost and Found website. The laptop was gone even though there were maybe 10ish people on the flight and I was one of two people up front. I activated “Find my Mac” regularly but there were no pings after that evening so someone clearly took position of and wiped a “new” three-year old laptop.
On an EVA flight I once forgot my book in the seatback pocket in Taiwan. While awaiting the next flight to Southeast Asia, they called my name and returned my book. A great reason to not change seats and a great airline. LAX TSA is another story. One time they delayed me going through the person scanner so much that TSA on the other end sent my carry-on to lost and found causing me a lot of worry finding out where it went as I thought it had been stolen. So that caused me more of a delay getting it out. The “T” in TSA stands for “Thieves”.
I have had nothing but bad experiences leaving anything on a plane. For one example, I left a tube with a one-of-a-kind painting in the overhead. At baggage claim, I realized it. It had my name and phone in large letters on the outside. No way to call them. I had to file a form online. Needless to say, they never recovered it.
AA said they have “special procedures” to find things. I asked what those procedures were. No answer. To make a story short, I took this as far up the line as I could. When I asked what the procedures were, AA went radio silent. Never heard from the same person. When another called to “help,” I told my story and was told that person would find out. When I asked what AA procedures were, there was silence. I never spoke to the same AA employee again. AA guards their special procedures to find forgotten items as if it were the code to the atomic bomb.
Moral: don’t let anybody rush you. Check that you have everything before you leave the aircraft. Once you leave, the item is gone for good.
Not quite a left on the plane story, but close enough…
Late 1980’s. Flying DFW-ORD to drive back a Porsche 928 that my Chicago uncle was selling to my Dallas uncle. As the AA DC-10 is pulling back from the gate I reach for my wallet — and it’s not there.
Instant panic — no drivers license, no credit cards, minimal cash, and I’ll be driving a cop magnet 900+ miles.
Once in the air I naively ask the FA to ask the cockpit if they can radio back to DFW and see if someone found my wallet at the gate.
Midway through the flight the FA comes by and informs me that the pilot had contacted DFW. The shuttle bus driver had found my wallet on the bus, returned to the terminal and run up to the gate (how they figured out what I flight I was on I have no idea). The plane had already left, but the gate agents made arrangements to send me the wallet on a later flight.
A few hours later I’m in the O’Hare baggage claim and a huge moving box-sized cardboard box appears on the belt with my name on it, containing my wallet.
Needless to say, I owe a bunch of folks a huge thanks for that day!
Side note: And this is why, to this day, whenever I get on a plane I’m compulsively checking my pockets for wallet/keys/phone/etc every 30 seconds….
After UA first class flight attendant failed to return my jacket and gloves and I likewise forgot to ask, I filed reports with both the airline and airport. Several months later I purchased both items back through Poshmark (sold together for ~$400) from a UA ramp agent working at the airport where I reported the loss. When questioned, he said United always lets their customer service employees and others take what they want from lost and found bins, and that my jacket and gloves were headed for the trash before he grabbed them. So try to not leave anything behind when flying UA into Nashville, as you likely won’t get it back unless an airline employee decides to sell it.