Lost luggage leaves Porter passengers scrambling

Dozens of travellers who flew with Porter Airlines over the holidays say they are still waiting for their luggage after some bags became misplaced in transit.

Graeme Bruce arrived in Ottawa from Halifax to visit family and friends for the holidays. He said he's been on hold with Porter Airlines on and off for four days and is still trying to track down his suitcase.

"I haven't been able to get an answer from Porter at all. Several emails, phone calls and I haven't received any concrete answer regarding where it is," said Bruce.

All of his gifts, as well as his clothes, were in his luggage.

"I've never been so thankful to have socks and underwear and T-Shirts for Christmas," said Bruce.

He is one of dozens of people who have complained online that they took Porter flights and their baggage never arrived.

Porter employees are now working to ship the bags to their owners.

A spokesperson for Porter Airlines said the problem began two weeks ago when the ice storm hit Toronto. Some flights were rerouted to different airports and cities and planes also had to carry extra fuel, meaning less room for luggage. The problem got even worse when travellers started showing up at airports with extra luggage for the holidays.

"When you add in poor weather you have to, in some cases, add extra fuel to some air crafts that means you can't necessarily carry as much baggage," said Porter spokesman Brad Cicero.

Traveller Erin Trainer in Ottawa finally had her bags delivered after a two-day wait.

She said the airline promised customers vouchers — $25 dollars a day while bags were missing — but still hasn't compensated her.

"It's just not good customer service on an airline that prides itself, its slogan 'flying refined'. It's not too refined to have to put all this on the customers," said Trainer.