Travelers are experiencing major delays at Dallas Love Field Airport due to issues with the bag check process and the airport is advising travelers to arrive three hours before their scheduled departure.
According to Dallas Love Field officials, a much larger number of passengers than usual filled the check-in terminal on Thursday to check bags.
Many were from the 60,000-attendee sorority conference that wrapped up in Dallas on Thursday, as well as travelers who were stuck in North Texas from Hurricane Beryl's impacts across the state and leftover travelers from the Fourth of July holiday.
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Compounding the problem, early Thursday morning, airport officials said one of the airport’s baggage machines began experiencing issues, which slowed down the process of checking luggage.
“We got here at 6:30 this morning with an original flight time of 8:25, I believe," William Thoden, who was traveling to New York, said after being in line for nearly six hours. "Then we rebooked for 4:45. We’ve been in line since then.”
“I waited in that line for about two hours," traveler Ravette Blackstock said. "Two hours and 45 minutes. We got halfway here, so now I’ve been in line for three hours, and I’ve had to rebook my flight. Trying to get to Norfolk, Virginia, and won’t be able to get there until tomorrow sometime.”
Airport officials said that employees at Dallas Love Field use an airport-controlled and maintained baggage intake system that allows all checked bags to be screened by TSA.
Love Field officials said the mechanical issue was resolved by 7:30 a.m., but that's all it took to create a domino effect of long lines stretching from the baggage check desk terminal to baggage claim. Travelers said the lines even wrapped outside the building.
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It's caused some tempers to flair among passengers.
“I saw some frustration between passengers and then a police officer ended up coming after some frustration erupted.” traveler Rodgerick Willams said.
"We got here at 6 a.m. And the line was already all the way outside. We went through the line down to baggage claim, snaked through there -- came all the way down here and snaked through here. Our plane as already left. And we're still here," said Lew Wheatley, who was trying to get to St. Louis for a funeral.
As of 1:30 p.m, Thursday, the lines were still incredibly long, and the airport was still advising passengers to arrive at least three hours before their flight, no matter where they were flying.
Though baggage screening machines were operating at total capacity, the high volume of passengers checking luggage continued to cause congestion at airport check-in, officials said.
"It's very frustrating carrying these heavy bags, pushing them through the airport. It's been a long morning," said Tiffany Goolsby, who waited for over five hours to check her bags on her way home to Florida.
Those using carry-on luggage have no issue and can proceed through TSA security normally.
Many passengers said they were waiting in the baggage line to talk to an airline agent, even though their flight had already left without them. Some were on the phone with the airline, trying to rebook on the app and waiting in line simultaneously.
"It's terrible, man. Everybody here coming two hours early is being told when you come in through the door that you're just gonna miss your flight," said traveler Patrick Kitchens.
According to officials, teams at Dallas Love Field are working to process customers and their baggage as quickly as possible.
"While there was a brief issue with one machine early this morning that has been repaired since about 7:30 a.m., the online baggage screening machines at DAL are operating at total capacity, but the extremely high volume of departing passengers booked by the airlines checking luggage (presumably from the recent convention that hosted over 60K attendees at one point) is causing congestion in the counter check-in process," an airport spokesperson said in a statement to NBC 5.
Southwest Airlines passengers are impacted the most since Love Field is the airline's hub.
"The airport’s baggage belt is experiencing issues, which slows the process of checking luggage. Our team at Dallas is working to process Customers and their baggage as quickly as they can. We apologize for any inconvenience," the airline said in a statement on Thursday morning.
