‘Complete chaos’: 2,500 unclaimed bags at YVR in wake of snow storms

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About 2,500 pieces of luggage sit unclaimed behind a newly built enclosure on the second floor of the Vancouver airport.

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With few immediate measures in place to ensure the safety of the piled-up bags amid last week’s snowstorms, some passengers fear their belongings may have been stolen.

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Kim Tanczos from Toronto landed at YVR on the night of December 23 to find a sea of ​​bags handled by a single baggage claim worker. His Air Canada flight was one of many that arrived late.

Tanczos’ carry-on luggage, containing her 14-year-old daughter’s insulin and her husband’s sleep apnea machine, was nowhere to be found.

“It was complete chaos. I saw a father crying, saying his children had no clothes,” according to the 49-year-old woman, who says the baggage handler told her the whereabouts of her family’s luggage was unknown.

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While returning to the airport several times during his vacation proved successful for Tanczos, who located their bags Monday, he worries that other passengers are still looking for theirs.

“My biggest concern was that my bags would be stolen. The way the area was set up on Boxing Day, you could come and go with them.”

YVR spokeswoman Alyssa Smith said the airport erected temporary walls on Dec. 22 to provide storage space for airlines, which take care of luggage for each of its flights.

“The airlines had additional security and staff, but they have since increased those security measures,” Smith told Postmedia on Thursday.

Passengers seeking to retrieve their luggage must confirm their identity with airline workers before being escorted to the overflow precinct.

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“We suggest that passengers in this situation file a claim with their airline,” Smith said in an email. “The airline will provide details of when and where your bags can be picked up at the airport or will arrange to have the bags delivered to you.”

Brooklyn composer Darcy James Argue took matters into his own hands this week after filing a lost baggage claim with Air Canada that did not receive an immediate response.

The 47-year-old, who landed at the airport on a delayed flight on December 22, resorted to opening the “Find My” app on his phone to pinpoint the location of an Apple AirTag. in your luggage.

While Air Canada’s digital tracking system, WorldTracer, offered no indication of the location of Argue’s luggage, his personal tracking device confirmed the bags were at YVR.

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On Wednesday, airport staff escorted him to overflow baggage claim areas where they found his luggage, which contained Christmas presents he intended to give to his parents in Vancouver.

“Yes I didn’t have the AirTag, I had no idea that my bag got here and how to find it,” Argue said. “There were hundreds and hundreds of suitcases, sectioned for days, some more than a week old. It still stuns me.”

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