A Victory For The Social Media Mob: American Airlines Pays Alex Gray $3500

Last week Alex Gray touched down in LAX after a trip to Hawaii only to discover that 4 or his 5 surfboards had been destroyed at some point in their transit, with one being snapped cleanly in half.

Gray promptly took to social media to lay into the offending airline (American Airlines) for their careless handling of his prized luggage and a social media storm ensued, with hundreds rallying behind Gray in his demands for justice.

Now, a week after the original post, American Airlines have finally held their hands up, confessed that the damage was their fault, and offered Gray a generous settlement, as he reported in a recent instagram post:

“#Americanairlines has replied, and I give them two thumbs up! @americanair will reimburse ALL damaged @cisurfboards and the @onamission bag. They are also returning the excess baggage fee. The airline was apologetic while acknowledging their negligence, and agrees the boards were most likely run over. I’d like to commend AA for handling this situation appropriately. Most of all I’d like to thank all of YOU for your engagement. It’s amazing to see the positive side of social media bring like-minded people together in stance of a fair result. Moving forward, I am positive the reply to this circumstance will hold as the example for all surfers in the future. Again thank you all. Let’s get ready for more surf adventures :)”

Stab reported that Alex plans to send some of the money he’s been reimbursed to the Jimmy Miller Foundation, a nonprofit organisation that administers ocean based therapy to wounded veterans and children. He also plans to use the remainder of the cash to fix the damaged sticks, which he will then sign and giveaway through his Instagram.