Afraid to check a bag? Missing luggage compounds Canada's travel woes
CBC
Deborah Cleary was exasperated.
When she landed in Montreal on Dec. 19, following a trip to Italy, she discovered her suitcase was missing. More than a month later, Air Canada still hadn't found her bag.
"I've spent so much time thinking about it, worrying about it, checking online, calling Air Canada," said Cleary from her home in Plattsburg, N.Y., on Tuesday. "I'm just sort of desperate to get my bag back."
The post-pandemic return to travel has been turbulent, plagued by mass flight disruptions and missing baggage piling up at airports. That has led to calls for airlines to improve their baggage delivery systems.
"It's broken, so I think they need to fix that," said Cleary, who visited the Montreal airport two weeks ago to search for her bag amidst a sea of unclaimed luggage. She didn't find it.
However, following a CBC News inquiry to Air Canada, Cleary learned on Friday that her suitcase is being shipped to her home.
"I'm very, very happy," she said. "I had almost resigned myself, I was never going to see it again."
Canada's first round of missing baggage chaos erupted in the summer, largely sparked by staffing shortages as airports and airlines scrambled to ramp up operations.
There were high hopes the holiday travel season would go more smoothly -- until severe winter storms hit much of Canada, causing hundreds of delayed and cancelled flights, plus a backlog of lost luggage.
"In the airline industry, a delay of greater than 15 minutes generally results in missed connections," said former Air Canada executive Duncan Dee. "Delays equal missing bags."
Dee said airlines need to do a better job keeping track of luggage, and the federal government also needs to invest more in airports.
In late December, cold weather caused a baggage belt to freeze at Toronto's international airport; a fierce snow storm caused widespread flight delays and cancellations at Vancouver's international airport.
"There's obviously a need for better infrastructure, better resources for airports … to make them more resilient to these weather events," said Dee.
When asked this week about recent travel chaos, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said airports will get the tools they need, but did not elaborate.
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