TAMPA, Fla. — Southwest Airlines canceled more than 10,000 flights across the country during Christmas week, leaving hundreds of thousands of bags lost in limbo between airports, airplanes, and baggage claims.
Luggage piled up in the Southwest area of baggage claim at the Tampa International Airport with lines of frustrated customers waiting hours to hopefully find their bags with personal belongings.
Brittany Loubier-Vervisch remembers her thoughts when riding down the escalator to baggage claim the day after Christmas, “There's bags everywhere. There's bags fully filling this space between the escalators, I've never seen anything like it.”
She’d waited at the gate for her flight through Denver to Tuscon for hours before it was canceled.
When she went to retrieve her bag, the line for help was at least two hours long.
“We talked to a couple in front of us and some ladies behind us and they've been going back and forth to the airport for three to four days each to try to retrieve their luggage. They're like yeah, we had to go buy all new clothes,” she told ABC Action News.
We met Riverview Resident Glenn Rodriguez at baggage claim Thursday. His wife, two teenagers, and toddler had gotten stuck at the Denver airport, where they had to sleep on the airport floor and then with a friend for days, without their luggage. They finally got a flight back on United.
“When we landed… There was a line three hours long, so at that point getting in at midnight, we wasn’t waiting in line to look for bags. So I came back Christmas, and there was still a line, so I said no. Came back on Monday, got 4 out of the 6, and now I’m getting the 6th one today,” Rodriguez said.
Like him, many people gave up, but Loubier-Vervish did the exact opposite. She started looking for her suitcase in the blizzard of bags and then realized several tags had contact information.
“My husband's still in line and I was like, ‘Well, I'm seeing all these phone numbers, I'll just send a text to like this person,’” she exclaimed. “I started texting people as stuff came off the plane and I was actually able to meet a man and woman that were able to claim seven pieces of luggage like for their family.”
She sent 70 texts in about two hours-- 20 bounced back as landlines, but 50 went through.
Her message read: “Your bag is in Tampa by claim 15, door 166. (I’m just a random person looking for my luggage.)”
“Several people have messaged and were like, ‘Oh, we got there and the bag was right where you said it would be!’” Loubier-Vervish said.
One woman responded, “Thank you so much… Seriously, you made my day,” with a Dunkin Donuts e-gift card.
“There are people out there doing huge amounts to help others and I did like the smallest thing, but that just happened to present itself and I happen to be able to do,” Loubier-Vervish said.
For just a random person looking for luggage, she filled a lot of frustrated people with gratitude.
“I just think it's important for people to remember as they're going through life and going through their day-to-day activities that you can help people,” she said.
Loubier-Vervish and her husband did get their bags back and decided to vacation somewhere where they could drive-- Miami.
After nine days of headaches and thousands of people stranded in airports across the country, Southwest announced it plans to return to normal operations Friday, Dec. 30.
The airline canceled 105 flights out of Tampa International Airport Thursday. The airport said it was 74% of the airline’s flights that day.
The thousands of bags once piled in rows in baggage claim are now growing smaller, more organized, and tucked behind a black curtain on the 3rd floor.
Customers still looking for luggage should go to Southwest baggage claim on the 1st floor to verify their bag is at the airport and then retrieve their bag with their ID.
