An Aer Lingus worker in Dublin delivered a Christmas miracle to a woman in New York City.
Few things makes your heart sink more than realizing that you left something valuable behind on an airplane. For Laura Begley Bloom, that was a laptop computer filled with valuable work and invaluable pictures, neither backed up. She flew Aer Lingus from Geneva to New York via Dublin and left her laptop under her seat on the Geneva to Dublin flight.
It only took her about an hour to realize it, but Aer Lingus had already turned the plane around and sent it to Amsterdam. Nothing had turned up in lost and found.
Her layover was three hours and she waited nervously fro the flight to arrive in Amsterdam. Would it be found? Nope. Aer Lingus called Amsterdam after the flight landed and a staff member checked the aircraft. Nothing.
She tweeted AerLingus for help, but boarded her flight to New York believing she had permanently lost it. It still had not been found when she landed.
The next morning, however, she awakened to a tweet from @lodge_mick–
Laura can you call 0868-xxx-xxx for your Apple Mac thanks.
Her first thought: scam artist.
But she reached out to him and to her delight found that he had located the laptop while deep cleaning the aircraft overnight in Dublin. His name was Mick Lodge.
At Aer Lingus, at least in his division, employees are empowered to seek out the owners themselves instead of turning over the devices immediately to AerLingus. While that may sound dangerous, giving honest employees the chance to show initiative routinely leads to a quicker and more positive resolution. It’s voluntary too.
Aer Lingus sent the laptop via overnight DHL.
CONCLUSION
Many years ago, I encountered a similar incident with United’s staff in Vancouver. I remain thankful they took it upon themselves to ensure I received my camera back.
And what drives Lodge to take this initiative?
The decency trait in me probably partly stems from the fact that I grew up with 14 brothers and sisters in an army home and at a young age learned to appreciate what we had.
14 brothers and sisters? That is almost as impressive as his good work!
This is awesome. Big Irish families impart decency (with a dash of mild debauchery) in their children! 14 kids! His mother should be put up for sainthood.