A recent investigation reveals the struggles of recovering lost phones on flights
London: Losing your phone on a plane can be a real headache. A recent study showed that airlines often leave passengers hanging when it comes to lost items. Can you believe that less than half of the people who lost their phones on flights actually got them back?
Consumer group Which? decided to test this by leaving four iPhones on flights with major UK airlines like British Airways and easyJet. They even put a message on the lock screen saying the phone was lost, but only two phones were returned. The rest? Gone for good.
One phone went missing on a British Airways flight from Larnaca to Heathrow, and another on an easyJet flight from Nice to Luton. The British Airways phone ended up in a cottage about 15 miles from the airport, but by the time the police checked it out, the phone had stopped sending its location.
As for easyJet, they didn’t offer much help. The phone was reported missing on their website, but no confirmation email came through, and it was never found. Talk about frustrating!
On the other hand, the phones left on Jet2 and Ryanair flights were recovered, but Jet2 charged a £27 fee to get it back. One phone even made its way to Bari, Italy, before a kind airport worker called to say they found it. They sent it back for a fee of 60 euros. Not ideal, right?
Jodie Lopez, who lost her phone on a flight from London to Lyon, had to play detective to get hers back. She lost it while juggling her kids’ bags and had a tough time getting help from the airline. Luckily, she spoke French and managed to track it down after some persistence.
Rory Boland from Which? Travel said airlines really need to step up their game when it comes to helping passengers find lost items. It shouldn’t be this hard to get your stuff back!
British Airways mentioned they follow a process managed by Heathrow and their third-party supplier, while easyJet said they have procedures in place but couldn’t find Jodie’s phone. It’s a bit of a mess, honestly.
