The man, who identified himself as Dean, told CP24 Saturday afternoon that he flew in from Calgary on a nonstop flight, landing around 12:30 a.m.  on June 17.  He said he was asked at the last minute to check his bag.
He waited three hours for his bags, but they did not appear.  He then waited in line for customer service for an hour but got no response about his bags.
Over two weeks later, they are nowhere to be found.
“I’ve been back to the airport three times now. And it’s been 16 days and there’s been no sign of my bag. I’ve looked through these 2,000 bags here over and over to look for my bag. It’s nothing,” Dean said. .  .
He added that he has repeatedly called customer service and even filed a claim, but there are still no updates on the whereabouts of his luggage.
“My only option was to physically come here and talk to customer service. And they helped me as much as they could, but… my bag is empty,” Dean said.
He is just one of the many thousands of travelers who desperately searched for their bags at Canada’s largest airport.  Thousands of bags continue to sit idle in the baggage claim area at Pearson Airport, waiting for their owners to claim them.  On social media, travelers continue to express their anger as they ask airlines to find their bags.
According to the Greater Toronto Airport Authority, which operates Toronto Pearson, responsibility for baggage is shared between different groups.  The airlines and the contracted ground handling company are responsible for the handling of the baggage, including the removal of the baggage from the plane, its introduction into the baggage system and the rate at which the baggage is loaded onto the carousel.
“A number of issues over the past few days have led to baggage challenges. This includes flight delays and cancellations, staff shortages with our airline partners and temporary mechanical outages with the baggage system,” the GTAA said in a statement.
According to data from FlightAware provided to CTV News Toronto, 7.7 percent of scheduled flights in Canada last month were canceled, compared to 1.6 percent in 2019 before the pandemic.  It also found that of scheduled flights in June, 49.5% were delayed.
“We have worked with the airlines to ensure that unclaimed baggage is removed from the carousels and placed in the baggage hall to make room for baggage from other flights.”
Dean said he hopes to get his bags soon as he will be traveling again next week.
“I don’t have my bag. I don’t have my stuff. It was just very frustrating,” she said.
Dean added that airlines need to communicate better with their customers.
“Whether it’s a lack of supply chain or a lack of staff or engineering, whatever it is, there needs to be more communication for the airlines because this is ridiculous,” he said.
“I’m sorry that everyone is waiting for their bags. This is a vacation that has been ruined. People have been waiting hours and hours for the bag and just great frustration. If you look around here, this is only one terminal. Maybe terminal 3 has more bags, who knows;”