British Airways is Suing its Airport Ground Handler in Chicago For $1.2 Million After Workers Stole High-Value Jewelry From Cargo Hold

British Airways is suing its third-party ground handling agent at Chicago O’Hare International Airport after two workers stole $406,000 worth of jewelry out of the cargo hold of a plane.

After failing to reach an amicable settlement with its ground handling agent, the airline filed a lawsuit in an Illinois district court against the company late last year after the company refused to indemnify British Airways against losses stemming from the theft.

The incident occurred in July 2023 when a Bahrain-based jewelry firm arranged for a high-value shipment to be transported by British Airways from the Persian Gulf to the United States.

The cargo was marked as valuable and entrusted into the care of British Airways, but after successfully making it all the way to Chicago from Bahrain, the jewelry was lost to two workers who were later arrested, arraigned, and prosecuted for the theft.

The jewelry company brought its own lawsuit against British Airways for its losses, and in February 2024, a Bahraini court ordered the airline to pay the victim $406,000 for the loss of the jewelry.

British Airways asked its third-party handling agent in Chicago to indemnify it from any action in Bahrain on the basis that it was the ground agents’ employees who were responsible for the theft and that it was no fault of the airline.

The company, GSI International, failed to indemnify British Airways for what the airline’s attorneys describe as a breach of procedures on the back of failing to protect the valuable cargo from being stolen.

Along with reclaiming the costs of the Bahraini judgment, British Airways is also asking for its handling agent to stump up $100,000 in attorney’s fees and expenses and more than $700,000 in “direct and consequential” losses, which includes loss of reputation and goodwill.

Although the lawsuit has been rumbling along in the Chicago courts, it looks like the airline and GSI International are currently trying to reach an out-of-court settlement to avoid a full-blown court case.

An international law known as the Montreal Convention makes airlines liable for damage or loss caused to baggage and freight on cross-border shipments, and carriers are regularly targeted by insurance companies for monetary losses stemming from delayed, stolen, or lost cargo shipments.