Efforts ramping up at Toronto Pearson International Airport to clear baggage backlog

Staff at Toronto Pearson International Airport and at certain airlines say they’re ramping up their efforts to get hundreds of piled-up pieces of luggage back to passengers.

Tori Gass, a spokesperson for the airport, told CityNews headway was made late Monday and early Tuesday in addressing the baggage backlog.

“We still expect that this is probably going to be a multi-day recovery, so we’re not going to stop. We’re just working 24-7 to do whatever we can,” she said.

“We’ve seen some real progress and getting a lot of these bags into the system and starting to get to the airlines so that they can start seeing if we can get this luggage out to those people that have been without it for several days.”

Gass said airport staff jumped in to help organize the bags for impacted airlines and to make sure the items are at the “right place at the right time.”

When asked how many people are still affected and how many items are still waiting to be picked up at the terminal, she said she didn’t have that information.

CityNews heard from a number of Air Canada passengers who said they have been impacted by issues at Canada’s busiest airport.

Tim, who didn’t provide his last name, said he flew into the airport on Christmas Eve with Air Canada. He said the Christmas presents and ski gear he brought still hadn’t been located as of Monday afternoon, adding it was “unfortunate” the airport was in “shambles.”

“As you can see, disaster everywhere,” Tim said.

“(It’s) not fun to spend your Christmas going back and forth just trying to find some luggage — yeah, it’s disappointing.”

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RELATED: Passengers report multi-day wait for bags at Toronto Pearson airport as items pile up

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An Air Canada spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday a “small handful” of people from the central baggage office in Montreal will be at Toronto Pearson International Aiport to “assist in organizing the clearing of any baggage backlog.”

“It is actually something we do from time to time as these people have a particular skill set that will help us get bags back to customers more quickly,” the statement said.

Passengers travelling with other airlines, including WestJet and Sunwing, have also voiced their frustrations on social media over continued baggage delays.

A WestJet spokesperson told CityNews the airline is “experiencing continued challenges” to make sure checked baggage is getting to passengers “due to facility issues with baggage handling” at the airport.

“With this awareness, we are advising guests to pack and plan accordingly and to prioritize carry-on luggage wherever possible. We are also providing complementary checks for carry-on at the gate,” the statement said.

“The WestJet team in Toronto does have a lot of bags to sort through and they are working around the clock to get them moving.”

In a statement, a Sunwing spokesperson said mechanical issues with the baggage belt in Terminal 3 have impacted various airlines and Sunwing “cannot guarantee that all of our customers’ checked baggage will accompany them on their southbound flights from Toronto at this time.”

“For impacted customers whose baggage did not accompany them on their southbound flights between Dec. 24 and 27, best efforts are being made to reunite customers with their baggage. For bags that cannot be flown to (their) destination before the end of customers’ vacations, arrangements will be made for them to retrieve their baggage following their vacation or to have it shipped to their residences,” the statement said.

“For customers with southbound flights from December 28th onwards, our teams are working to manually load as many bags onto departure flights as possible but cannot guarantee that all baggage may accompany them on their journeys. For bags that do not accompany customers on their upcoming flights, best efforts will be made to reunite customers with their bags [at their] destination in the coming days.”

Meanwhile, as for what caused the baggage issues at the airport, Gass said a combination of events fuelled the situation.

She said airlines are still dealing with a storm that slammed Vancouver and other parts of British Columbia a week ago along with recent weather events in the United States.

“Those two events happening during a busy holiday season have really had a huge impact on the airlines and their schedule and their ability to recover, so we’ve been doing what we can to support them in that,” Gass said.

A baggage belt malfunction at Terminal 3 over the weekend also fed into problems, she said.

Gass said fewer staff members all around at Toronto Pearson International Aiport because of the holidays also created delays along with extreme cold weather on the weekend meant baggage handlers had to take breaks to warm up.

“There have been so many things coming together that have just contributed to this, but we’re now looking pretty good. The weather is on our side,” she said Tuesday afternoon.

“The baggage belt at Terminal 3 is working really well. We want to take advantage of that and make sure we can keep having like making progress. We’re hoping to keep that momentum going throughout today.”

Pearson is helping airline staff clear bags stranded due to weather disruptions, frozen equipment, airline staffing levels and flight delays. Much of the backlog has already been dealt with; many more will be by end of day. Please contact your airline for inquiries.

— Toronto Pearson (@TorontoPearson) December 27, 2022