Bacardi sues American Airlines for losing hundreds of cases of imported booze

Liquor maker Bacardi is suing Fort Worth-based American Airlines over the disappearance of more than $65,000 worth of imported French cognac last year.

Bacardi USA, the American arm of the Spanish alcohol manufacturer, said in its lawsuit that the company gave American Airlines 24 pallets containing 1,680 cases of cognac, a type of brandy from the Cognac area of France made under certain methods.

When the shipment arrived at Los Angeles International Airport after a flight from Paris, six pallets and three cases were missing.

Bacardi isn’t necessarily accusing American Airlines of stealing French liquor. It contends the carrier is responsible because the cargo was in its possession.

“While in the possession, custody and control of [American Airlines], six pallets and three cases were lost or stolen,” said the lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Pasadena, Calif.

Those six pallets are no small sum. Each pallet had about 70 cases of liquor, so more than 400 cases in total went missing. In the lawsuit, Bacardi said the missing alcohol is worth $65,820.72.

Bacardi owns three brands of cognac under the Otard, D’ussé Cognac and Gaston De LaGrange labels.

Cargo such as the Bacardi shipment has become a bigger business for American Airlines and other carriers since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing in $1.3 billion in revenue in 2021, more than double what it made in 2019 before COVID. That’s because planes have been less full, particularly international flights, during the last two years and that leaves more room for cargo, such as liquor.

American Airlines even started cargo-only flights in 2020 when its wide-body planes weren’t being used. Those international flights took off between DFW and European destinations such as Madrid, Paris and Frankfurt, all without passengers.

American Airlines and Bacardi, whose U.S. headquarters is in Coral Gables, Fla., did not respond to a request for comment.