Calgary athlete flew to Europe 2 weeks ago and still doesn't have his luggage

A Calgary teen who is in Europe for the Junior World Orienteering Championships says he's still missing his luggage after it was lost by WestJet roughly two weeks ago. 

Andrew McLaren is worried he won't be able to compete next week if the bag, which contains his orienteering gear, doesn't turn up soon.

"[I'm] just frustrated," said McLaren, 18, a McMaster University student. 

He's hardly the only one. Missing baggage is just the latest challenge facing air travellers as a post-pandemic travel boom, coupled with ongoing staff shortages, leads to flight cancellations and long lineups at the airport. 

For McLaren, it was a long journey even before the missing bag snarled his plans. He first flew from Calgary to Edmonton, then from Edmonton to Toronto and finally from Toronto to Spain.

McLaren saw his luggage being loaded onto the plane leaving Edmonton, but when he arrived in Barcelona on June 21, it wasn't there. He said about 10 other people were also missing their luggage.

McLaren's bag contained his Team Canada uniform and special running shoes with extra grip. He needs both in order to compete in orienteering.

McLaren said WestJet has repeatedly told him the bag is on its way, but he hasn't seen it yet. The latest promise is for WestJet to send it to Porto so his teammates can pick it up en route to the competition, which kicks off in Portugal next Monday. 

"Considering my experience so far, I'm not too hopeful about that," he said. 

In a statement, WestJet said it couldn't comment on McLaren's specific situation. A spokesperson said the airline is aware travellers have dealt with delays, including baggage delays. 

"We are working alongside our third-party service partner to alleviate baggage delays and have invested in additional WestJet oversight to support our partner responsible for actioning and delivering our baggage services in a timely manner," the spokesperson said. 

This type of delay isn't just a WestJet problem, according to Gabor Lukacs. 

Lukacs, the founder of Air Passenger Rights Canada, said his organization has been "overwhelmed" in recent weeks with messages from passengers whose baggage has been delayed. Lukacs said it's become a common issue across Canadian airlines and pins the blame on carriers overselling their capacity. 

"What has happened here is no different than a landlord renting out his apartment to five different people at the same time and not telling them it's already rented out," he said.