[PHOTO: WINK / CNN Newsource]
We live in trying times. Across the world, the fabric of right and wrong is being stretched and frayed. But all is not lost. Justice still exists, and if you don’t believe us, just ask Florida golfer John Andre.
In October, Andre was waiting in the baggage claim at RSW Airport in Fort Myers, Florida, after returning home from golf a trip to Atlanta. But when his golf bag finally arrived on the conveyor belt, he noticed something was wrong. As he inspected further, he realised that sometime between boarding the plane in Georgia and touching down a few hundred kilometres later, his clubs appeared to have been… burned?
At first, Andre barely recognised his own bag because the damage was so extensive. “Then I realised when it came around again, ‘Oh my god! These are my clubs!’ The freight guy said they dragged it… it wore through the protective covering, then they started to spark and then it caught everything on fire,” he explained to WSB-TV Atlanta.
Andre and his wife filed a $US4,000 claim ($A6,214) with Delta Airlines – which also came under, ahem, fire when a video of two bag handlers chucking a college golf team’s clubs went viral in May – writing, “We have to make it right. And in that case, that means writing a cheque for the value of the clubs. That’s all we’re asking for.”
Despite Andre’s plea, Delta initially denied the request. But after more back and forth, the airline, which generates more than $US50 billion in revenue annually, finally agreed to honour Andre’s claim.
Obviously, the news came as a relief to Andre, who called Delta’s apology and settlement the “miracle of all miracles”. It’s also good news for golfers everywhere. We’ll still be chomping our fingernails every time we fly with our clubs in tow, but Andre’s saga gives us hope that no matter what happens to our clubs – whether they be burned, drowned, frozen or accidentally sent to Easter Island – justice will be served.
