Often referred to as the Golden Corral of the skies, Spirit Airlines is known to receive a lot of hate on social media. Many social media posts have called out the budget air travel company for its delays, and nickel-and-diming checked baggage fees which can often spike the cost of one’s trip.
When it comes to luggage, one video from TikToker @wemaitalife seems to suggest that fliers aren’t really getting top-tier care for their bags—even when they shell out the additional coin to have them checked for their flight.
While waiting to board a flight of her own, the TikToker noticed one lone suitcase that seemed to have been forgotten by airline workers. She decided to document what happened to the little luggage prior to takeoff in a series of videos to chronicle the saga of its fate.
She writes in a caption for the video, “Spirit Airlines workers not paying attention to a runaway piece of luggage. multiple workers looked right at it and didn’t notice it.”
@wemaitalife Spirit Airlines workers not paying attention to a runaway piece of luggage. multiple workers looked right at it and didn’t notice it. #spiritaitlines ♬ original sound – We Maita Life
“OK, so anyone flying out of Orlando, at gate three, your luggage, which is rose gold, is hanging out right there,” the TikToker says as she records a scene occurring directly outside on the tarmac. Upon referencing the abandoned luggage in question, she pans her camera to a lone suitcase resting near a Spirit Airlines travel trailer.
She continues, “Nobody has noticed it’s missing,” moving her camera to capture one of the employees on the tarmac hopping into a vehicle. “Oh, maybe she’ll notice. Will she notice? Backing up, backing up,” the TikToker narrates as the worker reverses the trolley they’re driving but still, no one acknowledges the bag.
“No. So close. So close,” she says as the workers begin walking towards a Spirit Airlines plane. “Checking all of his stuff, it’s right there. It is right there,” she continues while turning her attention toward the suitcase yet again.
At this point in the video, it looks like it’s too late for the luggage as the TikToker records a large automatic door on the aircraft, one the TikToker presumes leads to the suitcase storage area, closing.
“All right well you officially lost it so…” she says as the clip ends.
In a second video, the creator continues to record the tarmac to see if any of the several employees walking around would even spot the luggage. She expresses her disbelief at how no one sees or does anything about the stranded bag. “Walking/driving right passed the luggage!!!!!” the TikToker pens in a text overlay on the follow-up clip.
In her third and final video, the creator shows an airline employee driving another type of trolley on the tarmac and apparently spots the suitcase. They begin to inspect the bag, checking the tag attached to it. They start to roll the bag towards the airplane, and then leave it on the tarmac before running up a conveyor belt ramp that’s situated near it.
When he returns to the shot, a string of suitcases can be seen placed onto the conveyor belt to be loaded onto the aircraft. The TikToker, however, mentions that she doesn’t see the rose gold luggage on the belt, stating that it was placed next to the belt ramp and not actually on it. However, at the end of the clip, there is success for the suitcase’s owner as she clocks it on the ramp and hopefully on its way home with its rightful owner.
“It finally made it onto the plane,” she says.
Viewers had a litany of different reactions. For one commenter, it immediately filled them with dread as they wrote, “Me, panicking that it’s my identical suitcase… realizing I’m not on a plane rn.”
Someone else explained that there may have been a reason for the bag to be set aside, writing, “It’s probably put to the side for a reason or a transfer for a different flight. I’m a Reno agent for a carrier and we do that. Our scanners tell us.”
However, another commenter said that it’s because of the TikToker’s video that they will never trust an airline to check their baggage. “This is why I travel carry-on only,” they claimed.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Spirit Airlines via email and the creator via TikTok comment.
