Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is in the midst of sorting and identifying “more than 23,000 items” left on airplanes and at the airport after Friday’s shooting incident. The airport reports that the baggage is in a “secure area” and that they are working with an unnamed baggage handling firm to sort the bags and reunite them with their owners.
Some tips for travelers planning upcoming trips:
- Take a picture of all of your suitcases and carrry-ons
- Make sure all of your bags, cases, etc., have luggage tags with up to date information
- Take a picture of the inside of your suitcase with distinguishable items on top.
- Take a picture of the baggage tag attached to your suitcase (if you check it)
Hopefully you’ll never have to resort to using these tips. They just serve as a precautionary measure and can be helpful in the event the airline misplaces your suitcase.
Airport Update on Process for Reuniting Passengers with Luggage and Personal Items
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is making significant progress in returning passenger baggage and personal items that were left at the airport following Friday’s incident. Airport personnel along with the help of a professional baggage company collected more than 23,000 items from terminals and other areas of the airport on Friday and Saturday.
By Monday afternoon, nearly 1,000 items had been returned by the baggage company. The airlines have also returned thousands of items to passengers, and thousands more are in various stages of processing. The items have been sorted and are in a secure area where airport and baggage company teams are working 24 hours a day to return them to their owners.
Airport spokesperson Greg Meyer said “We are moving through the baggage retrieval process as quickly as possible, but it does take time to ensure that items are returned only to their rightful owners.”
Here is the distribution process for three types of items:
Items Identified with an Airline or Identification Tag:
Items that are clearly identified with an airline or identification tag are being returned to owners through the respective airlines. Each owner is being contacted by airline, airport or baggage company staff with details on how, where and when they can retrieve their items.
Items With Owner Identification:
Airport or baggage company staff is also contacting owners of items with identification and no airline tag. Once identification is confirmed, items are being delivered to owners by courier (if local) or by shipping carrier (if out of area).
Items With No Apparent Owner:
There are a large number of items with no readily apparent identification, including carry-on bags, laptops, cell phones and other electronic devices. Pictures of these items will be posted online so that owners can identify their items and provide contact information necessary to reclaim them. Each owner will be asked a series of questions to identify the items.
The website will be announced once the baggage company has exhausted its ability to identify the item’s owners.
WHAT PASSENGERS CAN DO TO HELP:
- Passengers, airport employees or any other individual who have items remaining at the airport are encouraged to call the Broward County Call Center as soon as possible to file claim information that will help airport and baggage company staff return items to their rightful owner. Call toll free at 866-435-9355 to provide your contact information and details about your items.
- File a claim for all your items, but please do not file duplicate claims. This will slow down the matching process.
- Foreign visitors who need assistance with missing passports should contact their consulate; US citizens should contact their local passport office.
Please continue to check our website, or the airport’s website for updates, or follow us on Twitter@FLLFLYER
