Day three of lines, canceled flights, lost luggage at Hartsfield-Jackson

But this was truly a tale of two terminal areas. The north terminal, where all non-Delta airlines reside, felt nearly normal early Sunday afternoon, save for long lines at Frontier Airlines. All was quiet at the check-in area for Southwest Airlines, the second largest airline at Hartsfield-Jackson, which was not affected by the CrowdStrike software problem. Their flight schedule showed minimal issues.

The south terminal, where Delta is based, featured multiple snaking lines for customers trying to rebook flights or find baggage. Hundreds of bags were lined up between carousels where people hunted around for their luggage like a sinister “Where’s Waldo” exercise.

Credit: Ziyu Julian Zhu/AJC

Credit: Ziyu Julian Zhu/AJC

At 1:30 p.m., Debbie Galbraith, an account manager from Detroit, had been standing in a Delta baggage claim line for three hours and was losing patience.

“This is insane,” she griped. Only three Delta employees were handling the line, which moved slower than the line for Space Mountain in Disney World during spring break.

Galbraith had flown into Atlanta from Seattle at 1:40 a.m. Sunday after an Alaskan cruise. She had planned to stay with her sister in Atlanta for a night before driving 12 hours home to Detroit Sunday.

But her bag didn’t appear to make it to Atlanta. She said she tried to get help via phone and app but was told she had to file a lost baggage claim in person. So she returned to the airport Sunday morning at 10:15 to receive a claim ticket in person so she could ensure her bag gets back to Atlanta.

At 2:45 p.m., she finally got to the front of the line. Bad news: Delta couldn’t find her bag.

“They claim the bag never got checked in,” Galbraith said. “I don’t have anything saying my bag ever made it on the plane from the cruise ship. I have little faith they’ll find my bag. A horrible experience all the way around.”

She later got confirmation that the fault was Norwegian Cruise lines, not Delta, but she felt Delta’s customer service was subpar. “It’s going to be quite awhile before I fly again,” she said. “Delta should have been better prepared.”

Credit: Ziyu Julian Zhu/AJC

Credit: Ziyu Julian Zhu/AJC

Her neighbors in line, the Loftons, missed a week-long Princess Cruise trip because their flight to Ft. Lauderdale Saturday morning was canceled. The cruise left Saturday at 4 p.m. without them. But their luggage made it on a later flight. “Our luggage is having a better vacation than we are,” said Scott Lofton of Ball Ground.

Hundreds of people spent Saturday night at Hartsfield in uncomfortable seats or on the unforgiving floor. A few found refuge on industrial carpeted floor in the central atrium second floor.

Danek Gonzalez, 17, spent a sleepless Saturday night at the international terminal on a hard plastic chair. To make matters worse, an emergency alarm went off at 4 a.m., which he captured on video. “Even if I could find a hotel, I couldn’t book one because of my age,” he said.

Gonzalez was connecting on Delta from Barcelona, Spain after a two-week soccer camp to get back home to Houston. He arrived in Atlanta at 5 p.m. Saturday, found out his flight was canceled and was rebooked on a new flight for Sunday morning.

But that flight was canceled as well. So his exasperated father in Houston decided to jump in the car and pick his son up in Atlanta chauffeur style. As of 2 p.m., his dad was three hours into a 10-hour drive. On the way back, will they stay in a hotel? “No,” Gonzalez said. “I know my dad. He’s going to want to drive straight back.”

Gonzalez’s father is in the military, so he tried to get into the USO Atlanta Center in the atrium, but he was not allowed because he’s a minor. “They did give me snacks,” he said, munching on Girl Scout cookies.

Jill Denves and her sister-in-law Ellen Marr were passing through Atlanta after a fun trip to Peru on their way home to Baltimore Saturday night. The Baltimore flight was canceled, and hours of waiting in multiple lines became more comedic and grim, Denves said. While in line, Marr smartly booked a flight via her phone to Baltimore on unaffected Southwest for Sunday night.

“Delta was handed the worst situation,” Denves said. “They dealt with it marginally well. What surprised me is the crowds were astonishingly well behaved. Civility prevailed!”