Traveller 'furious' after learning WestJet donates unclaimed baggage to charities after 90 days

When Michelle Linklater didn't hear back from WestJet about her missing luggage, she drove 10 hours from her parents' place in Estevan, Sask., to the Calgary International Airport to get answers.

She arrived on Monday and wasn't surprised to discover the airline still hadn't located her lost bags.

But she says she was furious to learn from WestJet staff that the airline donates unclaimed baggage to local charities after 90 days.

"This isn't just about finding my flipping suitcase. It's about what they're doing to identify people's belongings," said Linklater, who lives in Saskatoon.

"This makes me furious that WestJet has such a policy."

Her luggage went missing on Dec. 2, when she and her daughter flew from Saskatoon to Cancun with a connection in Calgary.

She wants other travellers to know their belongings could be donated if their lost baggage isn't properly tagged and found within 90 days.

WestJet did not tell Linklater or CBC News which charities the bags are donated to.

"When you have mass volume, when you have a crisis like that, maybe 90 days isn't enough time to be washing your hands and to give that to someone [else]," she said.

This comes a week after CBC News reported an Ontario couple fought with Air Canada for four months to get back a piece of luggage after the airline said it had been donated to charity.

In Linklater's case, WestJet agreed to issue $2,325 in compensation for her lost luggage, which she says contained medication, designer clothing and Christmas gifts.

She says her fight isn't about the money.

"They have to have answers to how they're going to fix this in the future," she said. "I am doing this purely to assist people that are going to be having other problems such as mine."

Linklater says WestJet needs to improve its baggage handling system to avoid losing more luggage and extend its 90-day policy to at least 120 days. The airline could also look at forming an organization to help during catastrophes similar to the one seen over the holidays, she says.

WestJet donates baggage under 'rare circumstances'

According to an email statement from WestJet, there are rare circumstances when the airline donates lost bags to charity.

"However, we would not donate any bag that fit the description of a lost bag with an open claim," read the statement.

Unclaimed baggage is sent to the airline's central baggage services team in Calgary to investigate and locate the owner.

"Baggage that goes unclaimed for 90 days will have its items donated or disposed of and, where possible, our agents will add contents to bag files to best assist the identification process. We do not sell or auction lost luggage."

The Calgary-based airline says the vast majority of baggage delayed over the holidays has been returned to passengers. In the statement, the airline apologizes to travellers whose bags haven't been returned.

Linklater says she spent Monday afternoon at WestJet headquarters waiting to speak with CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech, but staff weren't able to co-ordinate a meeting. 

In the meantime, Linklater says, she'll stick around Calgary to continue pursuing a conversation with WestJet officials about policy changes.