Nearly 1,000 travel-weary passengers were forced to wait for their checked luggage for over five hours at a Florida airport due to severe storms and were threatened with arrest if they left the building empty-handed.
International travelers arriving at Orlando International Airport on three separate Virgin Atlantic flights were met with a rude welcome to the Sunshine State when “adverse weather” delayed operations over the weekend, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Passenger Carol Wick had just returned home to Orlando from a two-week trip to Croatia with her husband. She detailed the troubles she ran into during her 48-hour journey home that included multiple delays and a canceled flight.
“Three delayed flights, one canceled flight and now trapped at the Orlando airport. It’s officially over 48 hrs trying to get home,” Wick wrote on Facebook.
Wick, who owns an international consulting firm, says she got trapped in customs because “No one is allowed to leave the area without checked bags.”
US Customs and Border Protection requires all international passengers to pass through customs with all their luggage as part of a “bags first” policy, according to Orlando International Airport.
The strict policy forced nearly 800 passengers to wait from 7 p.m. to beyond midnight waiting for their luggage to pass through to the terminal in order for them to leave.
Wick claimed that airport and airline officials threatened passengers with arrest if they left the terminal without their belongings.
“I travel all the time for work and I have never seen anything like this,” Wick told the outlet. “It was just the craziest thing I’ve ever experienced in my whole life and there’s no explanation.”
Airport officials and Orlando police denied the claims that passengers were threatened with arrest, according to Fox35 Orlando.
Another passenger documented their experience inside the “controlled border patrol area” saying they had to wait out the 90-minute storm followed by the 30-minute lightning-less time frame before the ground stop was lifted.
After the initial waiting period, the traveler noted that two Virgin Atlantic flights were processed through with their luggage, but the third flight’s baggage never came through.
Passengers aboard the third, not-so-lucky flight, allegedly had to wait five hours for their belongings without any food, vending machines or seating, passengers said through their poultry farm account.
“In all, we ended up waiting over FIVE HOURS for our luggage. It was one of those unfortunate travel incidents that you have no control over, and it sucks when you don’t get any support from the company you’ve spent your money with,” the user wrote.
Wick confirmed the dreadful travel experience, blasting airport officials for not explaining the reasoning behind the long delay.
“There’s no place to sit, there’s babies, there’s elderly people and we’re all laying, sitting on the ground trying to find something to lean on,” Wick told the Orlando Sentinel. “They were holding our bags hostage and no one ever gave us an explanation.”
Virgin Atlantic apologized to Wick in one of her Facebook posts.
“We understand how frustrating and disruptive unexpected weather conditions can be and we also recognize how challenging it can feel when there are no eateries available in the customs area,” an airport official wrote, according to the outlet. “We sincerely regret that these circumstances affected your plans and overall experience.”
The airline confirmed all passengers were eventually reunited with their luggage.
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