Funviralpark More than 18% of flights have been canceled and nearly 160 delayed, according to airport authorities.
But Southwest Airlines in flight has another problem.
Thousands of bags were left unattended in baggage claim, and Southwest Airlines said they were from canceled flights.
It’s a situation that leaves passengers sifting through the mess, hoping to find their belongings.
“I came down to the graveyard looking for my luggage,” said Robert Benson.
“Our luggage was lost. They don’t know exactly where it was. [at] Around 3:30 a.m. I got in line at 4:00 a.m. and was told my luggage was stuck in DC,” says Alana Kroshke. We go to Walmart, buy some stuff and you’re on your way.
Time and time again at TPA, we’ve found people opting to see the silver lining in the middle of the chaos.
People like Carlos Davis whose family is stranded in Florida after his return flight to Arizona was cancelled.
“So our week here in Tampa, Florida has been extended.”
He said they were staying at the home of a family friend who had asked to visit.
“We called her up and said, ‘Here we are! This is what you wanted,'” Davis said with a laugh.
Newlywed Matthew Christopher from Denver said his vacation has started well.
“The best thing is to come back to see friends and family reveling,” he said.
But it ended like a nightmare.
“Today is my wife’s birthday, it’s our first honeymoon as a couple, and we don’t have a bag.”
We then met Sonny Feraiuolo from Newport Richie, who was back in the Tampa Bay area after a connecting flight in Louisiana was cancelled.
“I got here at five o’clock yesterday morning and went home,” he said.
A second flight cancellation on Monday meant he was officially unable to attend a holiday get-together with his entire family.
Feraiuoro said he was waiting to hit the road again with his bag so as not to miss another important date to the west.
“My daughter is getting married. [on] New Year’s Eve. So the only way I’m guaranteed to get there? I’m going to go get my car, go get my luggage, and drive to Phoenix,” he said.
Southwest Airlines issued a statement on its website, in part saying:
With days of extreme winter weather across our network, the ongoing challenges are impacting our customers and employees in unacceptable and significant ways.
And sincere apologies for this are just the beginning.
We are on the front lines of safety, rebalancing our airlines and redeploying our crews and aircraft to address the massive disruptions urgently and will eventually travel with us. We are committed to providing the best possible service to all of our customers.
Southwest Airlines is the largest airline in 23 of the top 25 US travel markets, and the entire continent was hit by severe weather. This forced us to change the volume and scale of our daily flight schedule. We still have the tools our team uses to recover airlines operating at capacity…
Southwest Airlines
To read the full statement, please click here.
