Thousands of unclaimed bags fill Delta Airlines baggage claim area at Denver International Airport

Thousands of people have lost their luggage after Delta Airlines faced significant disruptions to its flight operations over the weekend. The airline was forced to cancel thousands of flights on Saturday, Sunday and Monday after the CrowdStrike Global Outage.

While virtually every airline in the United States was affected by the outage, Delta Airlines seemed to be the only airline Major problems remain with Monday’s outage at Denver International Airport.

On the fifth floor, near baggage claim, Delta alone had thousands of bags spread across the claim.

“I was a little nervous when I saw the sea of ​​baggage,” said Amy Clifton, a Delta customer.

Clifton and her husband were in Colorado for business and then vacation. They bought flights to Atlanta through Delta, hoping to be home Monday afternoon. But Delta’s system and lack of available crews have led to a third straight day of major cancellations.

“I heard a worker say the bags behind us had been here for a couple of days,” Clifton told CBS News Colorado’s Dillon Thomas.

Unlike many, the Cliftons got their luggage back quickly, even after they checked in. However, many others have left Colorado in recent days or left the airport without knowing where their luggage was.

Delta Airlines told CBS News the outage occurred during their busiest travel weekend of the entire summer.

The Cliftons said they couldn’t be rebooked until more than 48 hours after their initial flight.

“We’re thinking about getting a car and driving 21 hours home. We don’t know what to do yet,” Clifton said.

Others, like Amanda Harrison, said they were without their luggage for more than 24 hours. She was scheduled to leave Denver on Sunday before her flight was canceled.

“I found out it would be an undetermined amount of time before my bag would get back,” Harrison said. “It was a little nerve-wracking because all my stuff is here and I have no clothes, I’m wearing my dad’s clothes.”

Luckily, Harrison found her bag 24 hours after her flight was due to depart.