Katonah couple demands $400,000 from Virgin Atlantic for lost, and found, luggage

A Katonah lawyer and his wife claim that Virgin Atlantic Airways owes them more than $400,000 for luggage it lost for eight days on a recent overseas trip.

Michael and Rebecca Gordon accused Virgin of violating the Montreal Convention — international rules that govern liability for damages caused by delays of passengers, luggage and cargo — in a complaint filed July 11 in U.S. District Court, White Plains.

“Despite numerous international reports of massive luggage handling delays and disruptions all across Europe,” the complaint states, Virgin failed to give them the “priority treatment they purchased with their business class tickets.”

Michael R. Gordon, whose firm specializes in construction and business law, filed the complaint on behalf of himself and his wife.

The Gordons had booked a three week trip in Israel, combining an early 34th wedding anniversary at a resort, business meetings, recreation and education, and Sabbath observations. They bought two round trip, business class airline tickets for travel from New York to Tel Aviv, by way of Heathrow Airport in London, for $8,774.

They arrived at JFK Airport at 5:11 a.m. June 19 and checked in three bags containing all of their essential clothing and toiletries. While awaiting their flight in the business class lounge, Mr. Gordon saw a Virgin email notifying passengers about problems at Heathrow and the possibility that their luggage would not be loaded onto the connecting flight.

When they arrived at Heathrow, they learned that their flight to Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv was delayed. Virgin offered no explanation, according to the complaint, but when the Gordons boarded the plane they heard the captain announce that the delay was due to luggage loading problems.

The captain also said the plane would not leave until all bags were loaded, the complaint states, and when the flight did depart nearly 90 minutes late the captain announced that all luggage had been loaded successfully.

But when the Gordons went to retrieve their luggage at the baggage carousel at Ben Gurion Airport, they saw economy class customers picking up bags but could not find their bags.

They had arrived in Israel “with only the clothes on their backs, some books and other miscellaneous carry-on items, and no idea when they would be reunited with their luggage.”

The Gordons filled out a lost luggage form, including their itinerary, and then began their drive to the Beresheet desert resort for their anniversary celebration. Along the way, they stopped at a shopping mall to buy clothing, toiletries and other items.

The $2,675 may seem expensive, the complaint states, but the items were necessary. The Gordons had packed costly but appropriate Sabbath clothing, for instance, for several events they planned to attend.

The Gordons claim that Virgin did not provide any information about their luggage and that they repeatedly tried to remind the airline about their itinerary.

Then after they left Beresheet on June 23, their bags were delivered to the resort. Three days later, a resort employee drove 130 miles to Jerusalem and delivered the bags.

The Gordons are accusing Virgin of violating the Montreal Convention for damages caused by delayed delivery of luggage, and breach of contract for not providing priority luggage handling as part of their business class tickets.

They are demanding $402,675, including the $2,675 paid for replacement items and $50,000 a day for “abusive conduct” for eight days. The complaint does not explain how the $50,000 per day calculation was determined.

Virgin spokeswoman Grace Peatey said a large number of bags did not reach their flights in time, “due to a series of significant Heathrow baggage system failures at Terminal 2 and 3,” and she apologized for the inconvenience the delays caused customers.