International arriving passengers landing in Orlando around 7 p.m. on Saturday, June 27 were told that their bags were “slightly delayed” because of weather. Since passengers coming off of international flights have to wait for their bags to bring them through customs (and re-check them if connecting to another flight), everyone was trapped. And they were threatened with arrest if they tried to exit customs instead of waiting for their luggage.
But by midnight, an estimate 800 passengers still lacked bags and international arrivals was overwhelmed with passengers. People were lying on the floor. One customer collapsed and emergency cre responded.
Virgin Atlantic emailed passengers that snacks would be reimbursed due to the delay, but there are no eateries in the customers area. The airport blamed weather. And passengers were told “they could not leave without their bags or risk being arrested.”
- If bags are delayed and not physically available for inspection, “leaving without baggage” is not the same as abandoning inspected bags or evading customs.
- People leave all the time without their bas when bags don’t make it to their destination on time!
Weather was certainly an issue but that doesn’t excuse five hours in a customs hall with no food, seating, and arrest threats.
Weather Alert ⛈️ Due to weather conditions in the area, airline operations may be affected – flight/baggage delivery delays may occur. Please check with your airline directly for any updates regarding their operations. For airport status, visit: https://t.co/vm0yMYHkcv.
— Orlando International Airport (@MCO) June 25, 2026
One passenger shares their story,
My family flew back home yesterday, my home airport is Orlando International Airport (MCO). Eight and a half hour flight, and we landed just in the nick of time to deplane before a storm came through. That dang storm stayed over top of us for about an hour and a half, which created a ground stoppage.
We got through passport control pretty quickly, and then had to wait for luggage. After the 1.5 hr storm and the 30 mins of no lightening strikes they said was required to resume operations, the luggage for two other flights started coming. We were the 3rd flight and should have been next, but still we waited.
Two other international flights landed, cleared border patrol and they all got their luggage…all while we waited. No answers from the Virgin Atlantic reps…the supervisor refused to come speak to all of us. People with AirTags in their luggage had pings from the other side of the airport.
Since we were in a controlled border patrol area, you aren’t allowed to leave without your luggage, you can’t come back in once you leave, and there was no food, no vending machines, no seating. In all, we ended up waiting over FIVE HOURS for our luggage.
The idea of being arrested for not collecting your bags flummoxes me. There are passengers who would naturally not have checked bags, and they would exit. Certainly border officials can check passengers against whether their records show checked bags, but it would be unusual to do this. Generally they just choose whom to pull over for additional screening, rather than stopping each passenger. So most would just leave the airport unaccosted, although they’d have to deal with customs clearance on their luggage later.
(HT: JonNYC)
Incompetence rising to it’s highest level……
Why do people come to Orlando for vacation in summer? Hot and muggy as can be. Constant thunderstorms which interrupts air travel and any outside plans. The airport from hell. (No airport out there has the number of passenger meltdowns like MCO). And increasingly, crime.
So I was arriving on British Airways that same evening, while my parents were on the Virgin Atlantic flight noted here. BA arrives into Terminal C while VA into Terminal B. So different Customs halls. It couldn’t have been more different in our experiences. The BA flight arrived about an hour after the VA flight (6:30ish vs. 7:30ish). BA communicated frequently with us and once the ground stop was lifted, we had our bags delivered fairly quickly, by about 9pm. We were never threatened about leaving and the passengers were all very civilized. My parents didn’t get their bags until midnight. VA had 2 staff to handle 3 flights (BA looked like they had 3-4 for our 1 flight). A worker for the airport who assists with wheelchairs actually stepped in to help the VA folks with communication and handle passenger complaints (even taking the verbal abuse from the passengers). Eventually they were given small bottles of water. Also to note, the customs halls don’t have much seating at all, so the only option was to camp out on the ground.