When Linda Royle opened up her returned carry-on suitcase, she was disgusted to find not only her personal possessions missing, but several items — like two toiletry bags, a ticket scanner and a knife — were now in her bag.
Royle said her suitcase had been waylaid during a stopover at Toronto Pearson International Airport in late March. When it was returned to her, she said she was initially pleased to have her belongings back.
But her relief soon turned to frustration.
“It was shocking, like, I flipped it open and I unzipped the side and I’m there like ‘What?’… I couldn’t believe it,” Royle told CBC News.
Air Canada initially refused to compensate the Newfoundland woman, but told CBC News in a statement Thursday that it had looked at her case again and would contact Royle to “finalize her claim.”
Royle says hundreds of dollars’ worth of shoes, books, medication and clothing were missing, but in their stead were items she didn’t own, like two old shaving kits, which included personal hygiene items like nail clippers, small scissors, shaving items, a comb, body wash, floss and toothpaste.
Her carry-on luggage also now included a knife and a man’s boarding pass dated April 2020, she said.
There was also a scanner device, similar to the ones airports use to check boarding passes.
“You feel violated,” said Royle. “Somebody … literally picked through all of my personal belongings to see what they wanted.”
She said finding those unwanted items in their place is “bizarre.”
Royle says she was asked by an Air Canada representative to check her carry-on suitcase for her flight from Toronto to Newfoundland in March. However, when she landed at the St. John’s International Airport, both suitcases were missing, she said.
An Apple tracker tag in her large suitcase indicated it was still in Toronto. A few days later she said it was returned to her, but the carry-on was still unaccounted for.
Then she got a call from a Lawton’s drug store on Topsail Road in St. John’s, who said someone at the Pearson airport’s lost and found section had found her suitcase, which included her medication, and it was passed along to the pharmacy to reach out to Royle.
She was then able to get Air Canada to return her carry-on suitcase.
Royle suspects an Air Canada employee in Toronto failed to properly scan her carry-on suitcase during the stopover, so it didn’t get on her St. John’s-bound plane and likely sat unattended for days, when anyone could have gone through her personal belongings.
An Air Canada representative told Royle to open up a claim for her missing items, but three months later, it was rejected.
In an email, which CBC News has reviewed, Royle was told by baggage claims representative Dana Esteban on July 5 that because Royle didn’t have receipts for the items she claimed were missing, Esteban couldn’t confirm she owned the items.
“As your claim does not meet the requirements for compensation, I must respectfully decline your claim,” wrote Esteban.
Esteban also advised Royle to try to report the damage to her insurance provider.
“We sincerely regret the inconvenience you have experienced but trust that you will understand Air Canada’s position in such matters,” concluded Esteban.
Royle found that initial claim frustrating, because she never thought she’d need to prove ownership for shoes bought years ago.
“You entrust your bags with them and then because you didn’t carry receipts for sandals you bought in 2023 and 2024, they [said], ‘tough,’ because you can’t prove that you own them,” said Royle.
Royle added one pair of missing pink Crocs have a lot of sentimental value as they were a gift from her niece, given to Royle when her sister-in-law was being treated for breast cancer.
“I want to be reimbursed for my belongings,” she said.
Royle estimates the financial value was around $950. The only compensation she received was a 15 per cent promotional code off her next trip with Air Canada, which she got in St. John’s from a baggage agent when her two suitcases failed to arrive, said Royle.
Going forward, said she feels like she has no choice but to fly with Air Canada again because of the lack of airline options.
CBC News asked Air Canada for an interview about Royle’s case. An unidentified spokesperson replied to that request, asking for more details.
Two days after the CBC News request, Royle was contacted by a company representative who said her case had been further reviewed.
In a statement to CBC News on Thursday, Air Canada said it requires customers to provide claims, through receipts, for items valued above $350.
“Our baggage claims team re-looked at this case and found that the individual items being claimed were under the threshold,” it said.
The spokesperson then told CBC News over email its security team is reviewing Royle’s case.
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