OP
LVSteve
Member
I've been thinking about this a bit more and come up with a few thoughts.
1) Many of the flights are canceled after the bags have been checked by the airline. There appears to to be no mechanism for returning bags to customers once they have gone "behind the counter". More on this in 2.
2) Many of the flights are canceled after the bags have been loaded onto the kite. Loading is done by the airport's contractor who are responsible for the bags once they leave the airline check-in area. Do you think that the contractor is set up to unload aircraft it has already loaded on a regular basis? I don't, especially at peak travel times.
3) Even if the baggage handlers unload the aircraft, the only practical way to return the stuff is to use the baggage carousels. Often those are outside the secure zone for domestic flights. That may not matter as the passengers will likely have to exit the secure zone to reschedule. The airlines are not (and never will be) set up to reschedule inside the secure zone if you are traveling with checked bags. Can they reschedule you (without bags) in the secure zone? I don't know.
4) Let's assume that the airlines now have displaced passengers trying to reschedule while new passengers are arriving for later flights that may go ahead. Do you think the airlines want the delayed/canceled customers there with their checked bags a second time? There is a clear incentive to get you and your bags separated, and this is dealt with in 5.
5) Quite often the airplane for your canceled flight goes to your destination at a later scheduled time. So, there is no incentive for the airline to pull your bags off as the airlines' attitude is "we are going to get you there somehow, even if your bags go a the original route without you". Given that most flights are close to 100% full even outside the holiday period, there is no way you are getting on that flight, but they have lots of space for your bags.
6) Where it all goes really Tango Uniform is when your alternate route leaves you stranded at a different airport because of cancellations there. This is where 7 kicks in.
7) There is no plane flying that allows everybody on a full flight to bring a standard size carry on bag. My wife and I got one carry-on into the aircraft on Tuesday, but only just. So, when it comes to meds and valuables, you have to pack them in your personal item. Thing is I suspect there are many people who don't like TSA knowing they have health issues. I doubt TSA cares, but people can sensitive about such things.
All this reminds me of an old coworker and his views on air transport: "If you have time to spare, go by air". It remains to be seen how sympathetic employers are to passengers caught up in this who could not get back to work on time.
Oh, just caught a blip on the news of a guy in a Chicago airport (missed which one) whooping and hollering that he had found his bag after a week. Sadly, he may be one of the lucky ones.
