In the world of airline oddities, this one comes up once in a blue moon. A toilet overflowing on an airplane is extremely rare, and about one of the last non-threatening issues you'd want to hear while flying. Normally this is cleaned up in-flight and other than an out-of-service lavatory, causes little trouble. But what sets this particular incident apart from others is the impact it had to a customer and what United did about it. 

The Unfortunate Circumstance

On the afternoon of Wednesday, October 9th, 2024, a United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 registered N77259 was operating flight 557 from Charleston, SC to Denver, CO. The flight left 30 minutes late for an unknown reason, but likely not related to what occurred in flight. At some point after the aircraft took off, one of the rear lavatories began "spewing water" according to a passenger on the flight. The same passenger, who was seated in one of the back rows of the aircraft, then noticed a pool of water below his seat, where he had a bag stowed. Inside said the bag was a laptop valued at $1,200, completely destroyed with water damage. 

United's "Compensation"

At this point, the damage had been done, and the customer had no choice but to continue the trip to Denver as this wasn't an "emergency" requiring any sort of diversion. Upon arrival in Denver, United Airlines offered the customer 5,000 MileagePlus points to his account, but the customer believes he is entitled to much more compensation. For starters, 5,000 points is not necessarily a large value of points, and if you were to purchase miles on the United website, the cost is $35 per 1,000 miles (not counting taxes and fees). 

So doing the math, a compensation of 5,000 miles is the equivalent of $175, or about 15% of the laptop's value. While there is no policy covering the accidental damage of personal property on a United aircraft, this "compensation" is quite low compared to the severity of damage caused. Especially dependent on whether any data and files on the laptop are lost permanently.

United's Policies on Carry-On Baggage

Plainly put, United offers little-to-no liability for baggage when it is out of their control, which mainly applies to carry-on bags. Their website basically states that if you feel an item is too fragile, a separate ticket (i.e. a seat) should be bought for it. Since the owner of this computer kept it in his own carry-on bag, and thus under his own control, it basically clears United of any liability for the damaged computer, and their offering of 5,000 MileagePlus points is an offer of goodwill for the inconvenience. 

But in this case, with such a high-value item being damaged, it seems United is in the wrong for the issue, and is in the wrong for the low-value compensation offered. Especially since not only was the damage a result of an issue specific to the aircraft, and not the direct actions of the passenger, but the passenger was following rules to keep his bag under the seat for takeoff, when the issue occurred.