About ten years ago, I had a laptop that needed to be returned under warranty for repair.
A courier arrived with a hard-shelled case that was filled with foam padding and the laptop was dropped (gently) in the case, the case was sealed and the combination was taken away (with appropriate identification of sender and destination attached).
It worked so well - maybe airlines could lease out cases that could then be 'thrown' into a cargo hold without risking damage (or theft) of the contents?