Pearson passengers met with hours-long delays, "scavenger hunt" to find bags

Passengers arriving at Toronto’s Pearson Airport on Wednesday night were met with a “scavenger hunt” as they tried to find their bags.

Video shared on social media shows luggage strewn across the baggage claim floor as travellers wade through to locate their belongings.

“I just have to let you know that after you’ve waited on your plane for about an hour and a half to two hours, you come down, and you have to find your baggage on the floor,” Twitter user Remi Miltchin said in a video posted on August 18.

“You have to do a scavenger hunt to find your baggage. Normal.”

If you are thinking about flying into #pearsonairport think again! pic.twitter.com/kn9XIBpuiu

— Remi Miltchin (@miss_miltchin) August 18, 2021

One passenger said they’d waited for an hour and a half for their luggage to show up, while another tweeted that their bags had been lost entirely.

Travellers have been facing baggage issues for several days — a passenger tweeted on Tuesday that they’d been waiting for their luggage to materialize for five days.

@AirCanada Why must I stay up to 1am to receive my lost luggage? Radicicolous.

3 hours at Pearson Airport with NO luggage services and then waited on the phone for 5+ hours the next day to put in a trace for my luggage. From start to finish, a HORRIBLE customer experience!

— Steve Chaves (@arpeggisilence) August 18, 2021

• See also:
  • Toronto’s Pearson Airport named one of the best in the world
  • Arriving passengers can expect three hour wait at Pearson next week
  • Nearly 100 Toronto flights have had confirmed COVID-19 cases since August 1

Beverly MacDonald, the communications advisor with the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, told Daily Hive that the delivery of baggage is the responsibility of each airline, not Pearson.

“We’re sorry that some passengers are having a frustrating experience at Toronto Pearson,” MacDonald said.

“As communicated frequently via social media, the amount of time that may be required for international arriving passengers to complete the arrivals process during COVID-19 has increased.”

Since Canada’s border opened to fully vaccinated Americans on August 9, Pearson has been warning international passengers to expect to wait up to three hours to complete the arrivals process.