American Airlines has a clear cut policy regarding steps one should take to start the process of filing a lost, or delayed, baggage claim. The passenger should contact a representative from American Airlines, generally located near the baggage claim area, immediately upon realizing their luggage did not come off of the airplane. The customer service representative will issue the passenger a File Locator ID that will be used for monitoring the status of the lost luggage.
American Airlines makes attempts to return luggage within 24 hours. If luggage remains missing after five full business days, the case file is then handed over to Central Baggage Service which then handles the remainder of the recovery effort.
In the immediate aftermath of realizing your luggage was lost, a claim form should be filled out detailing all contents of the luggage. American Airlines makes this form available via their status checker portion of their web site. Passengers can enter the File Locator ID in to the status system for updates on the retrieval of the baggage.
