A BermudAir customer has called on the airline to rethink its baggage policies after their suitcase went missing last month.

The customer said his family travelled from Orlando to Bermuda on the airline on July 28, but one of their nine suitcases never reached the island.

They said that they contacted the airline about the missing bag repeatedly and were told in an e-mail that the airline does not use scanning for baggage and, despite multiple searches of all airport areas, the bag had not been located.

BermudAir regretted that despite “extensive efforts”, the bag could not be found and said the passenger’s claim process would be expedited.

The customer said: “Every other major airline can tell you the last time your bag was scanned, what flight it was on and where it is. BermudAir cannot.

“If eight of nine bags arrived safely in Bermuda, that proves their staff handled most of them correctly. So where is the ninth? With no scans, no tracking and no investigation details provided, we are left with nothing but ‘we looked’.

“This is not the standard Bermudians should accept from our national carrier. People fly BermudAir to come home, for business, for family, for vacations.

“We trust them with our belongings. That trust is broken when the airline’s official policy is essentially ‘we don’t know and we can’t find out’.”

The customer called on the airline to implement basic luggage scanning and tracking and conduct an investigation with Orlando International Airport and provide the results.

A spokeswoman for the carrier said: “At BermudAir, providing a safe, seamless and reliable experience for our customers is our top priority.

“Unfortunately, following an exhaustive search, we have had to communicate to one of our passengers that we must now classify their checked bag as lost.

“Since the lost bag was reported, our team worked tirelessly alongside our ground handling partners in Orlando, conducting multiple thorough sweeps across Orlando International Airport facilities.

“Regrettably, despite these extensive efforts, the bag could not be located.”

The spokeswoman added that while lost baggage was “extremely rare” for the airline, it does happen in the aviation industry.

She said: “That reality does not lessen the frustration and inconvenience caused to our customer.

“We sincerely regret this outcome, are in direct contact with the affected passenger to offer our full support and will be expediting their claim process.”