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A busy travel season and an airport workers' strike have reportedly led to a baggage jam at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport — and hundreds of travelers around the world have been fighting to get their possessions back amid the bag clog.
Personal bags and suitcases have been held up at the airport for two weeks for some travelers, with no word on when they may see their belongings again.
Fox News Digital spoke with one traveler, Carine, who asked that only her first name be used. She said she hasn’t seen her luggage since July 5th, after she flew from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport to JFK Airport in New York City.
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"When I got to baggage claim, a man had my name on an ‘unloaded baggage’ list," she said about her New York City arrival experience.
"He sent me to lost and found, where I registered my loss."
Travelers are shown carting their luggage through a busy airport. Some travelers cannot get their bags back from Paris Charles DeGaulle Airport. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
The woman added, "They told me not to call Air France, that it would be a waste of time [to do so], but that I could call them [JFK]. They also told me that people on strike in Paris were not loading bags — at random."
She said further, "I registered my baggage online as lost with the airline. Besides that, I have not had one word or acknowledgment from the airline, despite their having all my contact info," said Carine as well.
Fox News Digital has reached out to both Air France and to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport multiple times for comment, but has not received responses.
"It's extremely frustrating, emotionally and physically. It's time-consuming. I keep checking."
Kalid Anwar, who is based in Ottawa, flew from Montreal to Radat, Morocco, on June 27th, with a layover at Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris.
But when he arrived in Morocco — his luggage did not.
"I waited for my luggage for three hours," he told Fox News Digital.
He said he felt "really frustrated." He then filed a claim "in their bureau," and said that since then, he has called "with no answer."
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He said he "went online and kept checking my bag 10 times a day ... I had some gifts for my two kids for a special religious holiday. Unfortunately, I couldn't give them the gifts."
Anwar said he also "had my personal hearing aid in the bag."
In this May 17, 2019, file photo, Air France planes are shown parked on the tarmac at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, in Roissy, near Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)
In addition, "I have a sprained MCL in my left knee and I put my brace that I use daily to walk in that bag," he told Fox News Digital. "I also put my cholesterol and a medication that my family doctor prescribed for me."
All of this material, he said, has yet to be returned to him. "It's extremely frustrating, emotionally and physically," he said. "It's time-consuming. I keep checking."
He said he is hopeful that he will get his possessions back.
"The airline says they don’t know when I’ll get it [her luggage] and that they’re looking for it."
"I read in the news that they were hiring more people and we might get our things back in the next 5-7 days," he noted, adding that he is "keeping our fingers crossed."
Kim Rock of Henrietta, New York, said she feels like she "was robbed," as she had expensive medical equipment was in her luggage.
"My luggage has been there [in Paris] since last Thursday," she told Fox News Digital, "and so far, nothing — and the airline says they don’t know when I’ll get it and that they’re looking for it."
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She said her name is on her luggage. "It's more of like, ‘Oh well, it happens, and we’ll see what we can do.’ I told [the person on the phone that] I felt like I was robbed because my cochlear implant costs me almost $15,000!"
"I was about to cry because my cochlear implant and my CPAP machine are in the luggage."
"It has been a horrible experience for me," Rock added.
She said that when she first called about her luggage, "I was denied, since I was using an interpreter to communicate and they needed to hear from me — but I use American Sign Language! The interpreters and I had to explain several times about the luggage that was missing."
She also said, "I was about to cry because my cochlear implant and my CPAP machine are in the luggage and they’re very expensive."
A woman is shown picking up her luggage from a conveyor belt at an airport terminal — something that hundreds of passengers are claiming they have been unable to do at one airport. (iStock)
Susan Golden of New York City just received her luggage one day ago 12 days after it was stuck in Paris, she told Fox News Digital.
However, she said her baggage arrived damaged.
"We flew home from Malaga, Spain, on July 1st with a connecting flight in Paris CDG Airport," she explained. "We got to the boarding gate and made our connecting flight to JFK with time to spare. When we got to baggage claim at JFK, we were told to go to carousel 1."
She added, "After an hour of waiting for our luggage, we were directed to carousel 5. Another hour — and no luggage."
"Luckily, I was coming home from vacation. A lot of people were going on vacation and have had no bags the whole time."
"I then checked my Find My Device app on my phone, as I had Apple Airtags in each bag — and saw that my luggage was still sitting in the CDG Airport," she said.
"The bottom line was my bags weren’t lost because I could see exactly where in the CDG airport they were. Luckily, I was coming home from vacation," she also said. "A lot of people were going on vacation and have had no bags the whole time."
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"It’s very sad and very, very frustrating," Golden also commented. "There is an emotional component of knowing your luggage is being held and the ‘not knowing’ about who is going through your personal belongings."
Golden said, "I feel violated and depressed, not to mention stressed to the max."
Passengers are shown standing with their luggage at an airport. (AP)
The luggage jam has inspired traveler Michal Kaminski to start a Facebook group for those who are still awaiting their suitcases and possessions.
Kaminski hasn’t seen his luggage since July 1st, when he had a layover at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport while flying to Poland.
He told Fox News Digital that when he arrived in Krakow, "I noticed my luggage was missing. The guy at the airport advised me to try to call every day to check when the luggage will be back. I tried to call Air France but no one answers."
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He also said, "I called the CDG airport. Someone from CDG Airport told me that this is not their problem."
"I was feeling like I was in front of a wall: my luggage is lost, but I cannot communicate with Air France, the CDG Paris airport is not willing to cooperate too — and still no luggage," he added.
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"So, I decided to write my experience within a group that I am managing and many people have since joined."
He said he is unclear of "how this situation will evolve."
