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Members of the family drove 10 hours from El Paso to select her up on the Denver airport so they may spend Christmas collectively. Even now that she’s again in Boston, the whereabouts of the bags stay a thriller.
“It left Boston after which jettisoned into house, I suppose,” stated Carrasco, 32, an administrator at a college and comedy membership performer.
Whereas Southwest returned to operating its typical schedule on Friday, an untold variety of checked luggage — lots of which took the journeys that passengers couldn’t — stay lacking. The airline couldn’t present figures on what number of luggage had been returned to house owners or what number of have been nonetheless excellent, however social media is teeming with complaints.
“We’re making good progress in reuniting Prospects with their luggage,” Southwest spokesman Chris Perry stated in an e mail Tuesday. “Given the dimensions and magnitude of the disruption, it’s taking a while however our groups are doing an amazing job of sorting luggage, scanning them and making ready them for return to Prospects within the many alternative avenues we’re exercising to take action.”
In interviews with The Washington Publish, annoyed vacationers recounted spending hours in line, returning to airports a number of occasions, calling customer support repeatedly, looking round baggage areas to no avail and submitting claims into the void — and still, no luggage.
@SouthwestAir the place is my baggage?! It’s been 8 full days and nil updates. My household’s Christmas presents, my clothes, skincare, make-up, sneakers – all lacking. It’s not “simply stuff” to somebody who saves and budgets. That is merciless at this level. Soulless and merciless
— Bianca Lisette (@_biankadonk) January 1, 2023
“If there wasn’t a lot seriousness in attempting to get my household’s stuff again, I’d discover this to be comical,” stated Rob Demske, whose Potomac, Md., household of 4 had their Christmas Eve flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico, canceled.
The household was informed the baggage would nonetheless go to the vacation spot. Then they received phrase that two of the 4 luggage have been in Puerto Rico. Later they heard that two have been in Baltimore. Regardless of repeated calls and airport visits, they nonetheless don’t have their baggage.
“I’m not optimistic, given their monitor report to this point,” Demske stated. “Nor am I overly optimistic that Southwest has a grasp of the magnitude of the luggage drawback.”
For Dallas resident Candace Hughes, a 3rd social gathering is now concerned: FedEx. Hughes’s flight to Raleigh, N.C., the place she deliberate to spend Christmas together with her fiance and his household, was canceled. So have been the remainder of the flights she tried to guide to get there. The advertising and marketing supervisor by no means made it to North Carolina, however her baggage did.
“At first I used to be informed that that they had no thought the place my baggage went,” she stated by way of an Instagram direct message. “Then they informed me that it went to my vacation spot, which I nonetheless don’t perceive how that works as a result of my flight received canceled.”
On Dec. 28, the airline knowledgeable her that it had situated her baggage in Raleigh; the agent stated FedEx would in a single day her belongings to Dallas. Her baggage didn’t arrive the next day, and practically every week later, it has nonetheless not appeared at her doorstep.
(1/13 I actually don’t have any phrases for the whole end-to-end points I’ve had with @SouthwestAir over the previous two weeks. I do know I’m hardly alone right here, however the conclusion right this moment, with my bag “disappearing.” A thread documenting the absurd:
— John Balch (@PerplexedMonist) January 2, 2023
Perry, the airline spokesman, stated it’s in keeping with permitted procedures for baggage to journey with out clients on a flight. The airline is “making each try and return” luggage to vacationers, he stated.
“Given the dimensions of the disruption, it’s taking a bit longer than regular,” he stated.
Southwest’s coverage permitting passengers a pair of free checked bags possible contributed to the pileup of lacking baggage, journey business specialists say.
“There’s no query that Southwest handles extra luggage every single day than different home carriers, since there isn’t a monetary incentive for passengers to cram all the things into carry-ons with Southwest,” William J. McGee, senior fellow for aviation on the American Financial Liberties Venture, stated in an e mail. “Undoubtedly this contributed to the luggage fiasco final week.”
In 2021, in keeping with Transportation Division data, Southwest enplaned greater than 99 million luggage — essentially the most of any service within the nation.
Journey analyst Henry Harteveldt, president of Ambiance Analysis Group, stated the operational confusion, cancellations and normal chaos have been a “recipe for catastrophe” on the airline — and the still-ongoing baggage state of affairs stays the “most tangible” reminder of that meltdown.
He stated the restoration course of is difficult by the truth that there may be possible a big quantity of guide outreach similar to emails, texts or cellphone calls required to achieve individuals who have been separated from their baggage. Vacationers who need assistance with misplaced luggage can fill out a request online.
“It’s worrisome that Southwest can’t inform a buyer ‘We all know the place your bag is,’” Harteveldt stated. “As a part of their postmortem evaluation of this disruption, Southwest wants to look at its baggage tracing software program and ensure they’ve what they want.”
A consultant for the airline did inform traveler Theresa J. Cole, 51, that they had discovered her bag, on Dec. 29. She had checked her baggage Dec. 23 for a flight from Denver to Houston, but it surely was canceled and he or she had no luck discovering the bag within the days after. She ultimately made the journey on Christmas Day; nonetheless no bag.
On the baggage declare workplace on the day of her return flight, an worker informed Cole she would wish to select up the bag at an handle 5 minutes away by automobile. Cole, director of operations for a nonprofit, stated in an Instagram message that she didn’t need to threat lacking her return flight.
“I refused as a result of I had no religion that the method could be fast and straightforward,” she stated. The worker supplied to ship her bag by way of FedEx. Cole agreed and left Houston “feeling a fantastic sense of reduction.”
Now dwelling in Denver, her frustration is again on the rise. She has been calling customer support with little success and tried filling out the luggage declare kind, however the hyperlink didn’t work.
“I’m actually exhausted of this course of,” she stated.
So is Elisha Thompson, 39, of Las Vegas, who known as her baggage ordeal a “nightmare.” Her Dec. 23 flight from Las Vegas to Memphis was delayed, however she nonetheless made it to her vacation spot. The bag, which contained her favourite sweaters, winter coat, sneakers, Christmas presents and different gadgets, didn’t. On Tuesday, she stated in an e mail, she was on her eleventh day with out her baggage, regardless of a number of efforts to trace it down during the last week and a half.
“Southwest was as soon as my absolute favourite airline,” stated Thompson, a clerical specialist for a finance firm. “Resulting from their negligence, lack of respect and communication, they fully ruined Christmas and I’ll by no means spend one other greenback with them.”
She added: “I nonetheless hope to someday be reunited with my luggage.”
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