[cassianoleal]

> the fault lies somewhere on the airline's side

Hard agree.

> The airline doesn't have access to the tracking data that the customer did.

If that's the case, the customers could have done better. Last year I had a delayed baggage with TAP Portugal. My suitcase stayed in Lisbon and never arrived with me in Brazil. I had an AirTag in it. I sent daily emails to TAP with screenshots of FindMy showing that my bag was within a specific area of the Lisbon airport.

> It's one of hundreds of bags they can't find owners for.

They can certainly do better if that's the case. The bag has a tag with a number and a barcode. Those should point to a specific customer. The customer has already complained about the lost bag. The system should be able to match those 2 ends easily.

> Donating them doesn't seem like too bad of an option, provided they still make the customer whole.

Often getting money doesn't make the customer whole. There are personal items in a bag. There are special gift pieces of clothing. There might be mementos from the trip. There could be other items and artefacts that are irreplaceable to the customer. Money only makes it less bad but it will never completely compensate for the loss of those things.