ORLAND, Fla. — What should have been the end of a trip turned into hours of frustration for hundreds of travelers at Orlando International Airport Wednesday night after a mechanical failure delayed baggage delivery in the new Terminal C.
Some passengers told Channel 9 they waited several hours to get their luggage, saying they were stuck inside the baggage claim area with little information about when their bags would arrive.
The incident comes less than a week after another major baggage delay at Terminal C, though airport officials say the two situations were caused by different issues.
Airport: Mechanical Issue caused Wednesday’s baggage pickup delays
Videos shared on social media show hundreds of travelers packed into the baggage claim area as they waited for luggage. A traveler posted on TikTok she waited two to three hours for her bags.
Peter Brizio said he, his wife and their infant spent hours waiting behind the baggage claim area. He said passengers were told they could not leave without collecting their bags.
“Completely just a zoo. There were just too many people. Additional flights were landing. No baggage was coming,” Brizio said.
Brizio said he asked airport staff if he could leave and return later to pick up his luggage.
“If it’s 30 minutes, an hour, just tell me. I’m a resident, I could come back. And she just said, ‘No, you can’t leave. You’re abandoning your luggage.’ I said, ‘I’m not abandoning anything,” Brizio said. Brizio said Customs later allowed him to leave; however, he still has not retrieved his luggage.
Some travelers said they had no access to food or water while they waited. The airport says they provided bottles of water.
In a statement, Orlando International Airport said Wednesday night’s delays were caused by a mechanical failure that prevented luggage from moving through the airport’s baggage handling system. The airport said the disruption was “well below the expectation we set to serve our passengers.”
Orlando International Airport says the airport’s vendor resolved the mechanical problem.
Airport: Separate baggage problems over the weekend
The latest incident follows another baggage delay over the weekend in Terminal C involving passengers arriving on three Virgin Atlantic flights.
Traveler Carol Wick shared a photo showing hundreds of passengers waiting on the concrete floor inside baggage claim. Wick says it included elderly travelers and families with young children.
Wick said she tried to file a lost baggage claim but was told her bags were not considered lost. She also said a Virgin Atlantic employee warned passengers they could be arrested if they left before claiming their luggage.
“They told me that I absolutely could not leave, and if we leave... they said you’ll be arrested,” Wick said. Channel 9 has reached out to Virgin Atlantic for comment.
Airport officials said the weekend delays were caused by a combination of weather and staffing levels within Virgin Atlantic’s ground-handling operations.
Airport officials emphasized that Wednesday night’s delays were solely the result of a mechanical failure, while the weekend incident involved Virgin Atlantic’s baggage handling operations and weather-related issues.
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