Flight cancelled, bag stuck: How to get your checked luggage back after the FAA ground stop

A cancelled flight can leave passengers with another problem to deal with: finding out what happened to their checked luggage. That was the situation for many travellers after a nationwide FAA ground stop disrupted flights across the United States on Friday.


Although flights gradually resumed, the disruption did not end when the ground stop was lifted. Passengers were still facing cancellations, delays and long waits at baggage claim as airlines worked to get their operations moving again. The inputs are taken from ABC7 NY.

Why were passengers waiting for their bags?

The FAA ordered the nationwide ground stop at 3:54 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday following a telecommunications outage affecting air traffic control centres. The restriction lasted more than four hours, and thousands of flights were cancelled.

At Chicago Midway International Airport, passengers continued to face problems even after the ground stop ended. More than 170 flights had been delayed at one point, with waiting times approaching 90 minutes, according to FlightAware.

Some travellers also had to wait to collect their checked luggage. One passenger said airport officials had warned that it could take hours before bags became available.

Khy Sline, who was travelling to Atlanta, said passengers were being told that checked bags would not be accepted at that time.

"They're saying they're not taking any checked bags, at this time, which is probably for the best in case there is any cancellations. It'll probably be chaotic getting everybody's stuff after that," Sline said.

What Should You Do If Your Flight Is Cancelled but Your Checked Bag Is Still at the Airport?

If your flight is cancelled after you have checked in your luggage, contact your airline's baggage service desk before leaving the airport. Your bag may still be in the airport's sorting system or could be transferred to another flight. According to guidance reported by The New York Times and NBC News, passengers should speak to airline staff, provide their baggage claim tag and ask where their belongings are being held.

If the airline cannot locate the suitcase immediately, request a delayed baggage report and keep its reference number so you can follow up. Passengers can also ask whether the airline can hold the bag at the airport or forward it to their new destination after they are rebooked. If you have an Apple AirTag or another tracking device inside your luggage, share its location details with airline staff to help them locate it.

Keep your baggage receipt and any communication with the airline until your luggage is returned.

What should you do if your flight is cancelled?

Passengers dealing with cancellations or delays should check their flight status directly with their airline. The FAA advised travellers to contact airlines for updates as operations slowly returned to normal.

However, the reports did not provide a single procedure for recovering checked luggage after a cancellation. At Midway, some passengers were left waiting at baggage claim for information about when their belongings would arrive.

The disruption was not limited to Chicago. FlightAware recorded 9,132 cancellations and 7,030 delays on Friday. By Saturday morning, the total number of cancellations across the two days had reached 12,506.

Why could the disruption continue?

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that getting flights back to normal would take time. "I believe that it's going to take us some time to get back to capacity," he said. Even after the technical problem was addressed, airlines still had to deal with disrupted schedules, delayed aircraft and passengers trying to reach their destinations.