14 CFR Part 254: Domestic baggage liability
Part 254 sets a floor on airline liability for checked baggage on domestic itineraries. It does not say what an airline must pay you; it says how low an airline is allowed to cap its own liability.
The distinction matters: the figure is a ceiling on a provable claim, not a payment. You document what was in the bag, and the airline pays depreciated value up to the limit.
Why a passenger would open this part
It is the number people quote when a bag is lost, and it is almost always quoted wrong, as though it were a payout.
This summary is ours. The regulation’s own words are quoted below and linked in full.
What 14 CFR 254.4 says
“an air carrier shall not limit its liability for provable direct or consequential damages resulting from the disappearance of, damage to, or delay in delivery of a passenger’s personal property, including baggage, in its custody to an amount less than $4,700 for each passenger”Read 14 CFR 254.4 in full
The sections that matter to you
Of the 5sections in this part, these are the ones that bear on what a passenger gets. Which sections belong on this list is our judgement, not the regulation’s.
- § 254.4Carrier liability
- § 254.6Notice requirements
The remaining 3 are definitional or administrative
- § 254.1Purpose
- § 254.2Applicability
- § 254.3Definitions
Every time this part changed
- Jan. 29, 2007 72 FR 3943
- Nov. 21, 2008 73 FR 70592
- Mar. 8, 2013 78 FR 14914
- May 27, 2015 80 FR 30147
- Jan. 13, 2021 86 FR 2539
- Oct. 24, 2024 89 FR 84819Raised the limit to its current $4,700 per passenger.
Dates and citations are taken from the source note printed with the regulation. Entries with no description are ones the source note records without explaining, and we do not guess at what changed. All six parts side by side are on the rights timeline.
What this means in practice
Row30 provides data journalism and education, not legal advice. We are not a law firm and do not represent passengers in legal proceedings. For advice about your own situation, consult an attorney.