Southwest Airlines has been forced to apologize to a passenger after her luggage was seemingly lost, leading her to seek help from her social-media followers instead.
Archery performer Orissa Kelly was flying from Kansas City to Nashville with all of her equipment in tow, but, when her flight landed, she was left waiting anxiously at the luggage carousel as her bags didn't appear.
In a now-viral TikTok video (@orissakelly) with over 428,000 views, Kelly said that, as all of her archery gear was in that case, it was "pretty much irreplaceable."
A spokesperson for Southwest Airlines told Newsweek: "We take great pride in providing our legendary Southwest hospitality. In this case, Southwest has been in direct contact with the customer to offer support and an apology for her experience."
However, with her livelihood entirely dependent on the contents of that bag, Kelly thought ahead and placed an AirTag inside it before traveling. That way, she could track its location if it were ever to go missing.
The AirTag showed that the luggage was inside Kansas City International Airport still, so Kelly spoke to airport staff to make them aware of the error and to locate the bag. But she says in the video that staff weren't willing or able to help her, and she was no closer to getting her things back.
So, Kelly took to Instagram to detail the predicament to her followers, and see if anyone might be able to help. Incredibly enough, numerous people who work at Kansas City International Airport, or know people who do, responded to her Instagram story and offered their assistance. Eventually, the bag was discovered by one of Kelly's followers who put it straight on a plane to Nashville, where she was finally able to retrieve it.
Following the nightmare ordeal, Kelly shared the video on TikTok. It showed the process she went through to get her luggage back. Since the video was posted on August 8, it received over 55,800 likes and hundreds of comments.
"After way too much stress, my bag finally arrived," Kelly said on TikTok. "My God, and I'm grateful for everyone that helped me – except Southwest, they didn't help me at all."
@orissakelly Replying to @Dara Southwest responded!! Do you think they did enough? 👇 #southwest #travel #airline #fail #ohno #storytime
♬ Little Things - Adrian Berenguer
In a subsequent video, posted on August 9, Kelly said that she had spoken with someone from Southwest Airlines who offered their sincere apologies. During the call, Kelly was reassured that she would be reimbursed for the flight that resulted in her lost luggage, was given $300 in flight vouchers, and had her airport parking refunded, too.
After managing to get her luggage back and receiving a "genuine apology," Kelly said that she is "not upset with Southwest anymore."
The social-media reaction has been an incredible experience for Kelly, who may have never found her luggage if it weren't for her followers.
The viral clip has received over 840 comments already, with one TikTok user responding: "I would've been so upset, I'm so sorry. I'm glad you kept the AirTag omg [oh my god]."
Another person commented: "This is why people shouldn't take their followers for granted. People are genuinely lovely and kind."
Newsweek reached out to @orissakelly via email for comment.
Do you have a travel dilemma? Let us know via life@newsweek.com. We can ask experts for advice, and your story could be featured on Newsweek.
