COLUMBUS, Ohio — Hundreds of bags of luggage continue to stack up inside the Southwest Airlines baggage claim area. The bags are waiting to be picked up by passengers who got separated from their luggage after the airline canceled most of its flights during the winter storm.
Southwest said some of the bags were driven to Columbus from airports like Chicago and Denver which were hit hardest by the storm.
In an effort to relocate bags with customers, 10TV called the owners to let them know their bags were at John Glenn Columbus International Airport.
One customer, Jennifer Long, hasn't seen her bags since Christmas.
“We’ve had zero correspondence from Southwest Airlines,” said Long.
Through FaceTime, she told us how her flight in Orlando was delayed multiple times before the family finally had enough.
“We jumped in the car and drove 15 and a half hours back to Columbus,” she said.
We called her to let her know her bags were in Columbus. She said she knew the location because she had an AirTag inside her bag.
10TV reporter Kevin Landers asked, "So this phone call was the first time you’ve actually physically seen your bag since you began your trip?"
Long responded by saying, "You got it — since 11 a.m. on Christmas Day.”
We also phoned John Romeo who lives in Austin, Texas. He told us he never made it out of Texas, but his five bags did.
“It really messed up my Christmas plans,” said Romeo.
He said, like many stranded Southwest passengers, he felt helpless that he couldn’t make alternative plans while at the gate.
“They weren’t telling us anything except the crew wasn’t there. We were kind of held hostage to stay at the gate,” he said.
Both Long and Romeo said the experience has changed their perception of Southwest.
“I will never fly southwest again because the communication has been horrible. That’s the biggest thing, just let me know if you’re going to cancel my flight Let me know because I could have been on the road five hours earlier,” said Long.
“They’ve really but a bruise on my perception. It’s going to hurt. It’s going to hurt a lot of families because this couldn’t happen at a worse time during Christmas. This is going to stick for a long time. Will I fly Southwest during Christmas? Never again,” said Romeo.
If you have questions for the airline, you can visit their website to get answers on your rights.
Southwest Airlines' disruption information can be found here.
View Southwest CEO's full apology here.