The guy in this story who said “your AirTag may be there but that doesn’t mean your bag is there” is the opposite of that type.
Maybe they left a note in the file, probably they did nothing.
It is easy to attribute malice to someone when the solution seems to be obvious. It is easy to imply actions or inaction when you have no basis for it outside of a feeling that doing X will result in Y. It's more difficult to see the consequences of that obvious solution.
I spend a good part of some days tracking down and trying to resolve problems because of a combination of policies and software that sucks. Sometimes I make people incredibly happy because I accomplished something noone else could. Sometimes I leave people disappointed, not because their problems are unsolvable but because overstepping certain bounds will break things elsewhere. When I try placing myself in the airline's position, I'm seeing a situation with broken policies and procedures, but also of incredible consequences if circumventing thos policies and procedures was the norm.