American Airlines to travelers: “Pick Up Your Luggage” After Outage

American Airlines Tells Travelers: “Come Pick Up Your Luggage” After IT Outage, Storms Snarl Philadelphia Flights

American Airlines is urging passengers traveling through Philadelphia International Airport to return to the airport to retrieve their checked luggage after a technology outage and severe thunderstorms created widespread disruptions Tuesday evening.

The airline is working through a backlog of baggage after a brief nationwide IT outage temporarily halted departures and left baggage carousels at Philadelphia International Airport unable to keep up with arriving flights. At the same time, thunderstorms across the East Coast triggered delays and cancellations, compounding the disruption.

Frustrated travelers described long waits in baggage claim as suitcases piled up. According to 6abc, some passengers sat on inactive baggage carousels for hours while waiting for their luggage to appear.

One stranded passenger, Ari Zizzo of Los Angeles, told 6abc, “I’m really, really frustrated right now. I don’t know anybody in Philly at all.” Zizzo added that airline representatives informed them, “They told me my bag is going to arrive at my destination before me.”

American Airlines, which operates Philadelphia as one of its major hubs, experienced more delays and cancellations than any other carrier at the airport as crews worked to restore normal operations following the outage and weather-related interruptions. While the IT issue has been resolved and flights have resumed, baggage recovery continues.

The airline is advising affected passengers to return to Philadelphia International Airport to claim their luggage or file a delayed baggage report if their bags remain missing.

American Airlines Tells Travelers: “Come Pick Up Your Luggage” After IT Outage was originally published on rnbphilly.com