Southwest Airlines Videos Show Thousands of Lost Luggage: 'Sea of Bags'

Videos have been posted on social media showing piles of unclaimed bags at a number of American airports, after Southwest Airlines cancelled thousands of flights as they seek to "reposition our people and planes," following the chaos caused by the winter storm.

The airline cancelled about 2,600 flights on Tuesday, with another 2,500 flights scrapped for Wednesday and 1,400 on Thursday.

The resulting chaos has caused luggage to stack up at airports across the U.S., with reports some bags were transported even when the flight they were scheduled on had been cancelled.

On Wednesday morning, WUSA9 reporter Adam Longo tweeted a photo of long lines of bags at Washington D.C.'s Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA).

He wrote: "This is 'Suitcase City' at Reagan National Airport near DC and it's filled with a lot of lonely baggage. Imma be honest, this is not very secure. I was checking luggage tags and texting people to let them know their bags were here at DCA."

Longo tweeted a screenshot of his conversation with a Southwest Airlines passenger, whose bag was one of those in the line.

Asked about their situation, the passenger said: "My husband and I were stuck in Dallas yesterday after our connecting flight to DC got cancelled. We decided to rent a car and make the 19 hour drive in order to make it on time to our wedding reception."

Similar scenes were reported in Illinois by ABC7 Chicago reporter Christian Piekos.

He tweeted an 11-second clip of bags bunched round baggage carousels, adding: "This is the mess at Midway Airport in Chicago this morning, as thousands of unclaimed bags are packed around carousels. Southwest Airlines has already canceled over 2,500 flights today with thousands more delayed."

On Tuesday evening, producer Brandon Davis tweeted a video of passengers looking at a collection of luggage at Nashville International Airport, also known by the airport code BNA.

He said: "Southwest Airlines baggage claim at BNA is just a sea of bags from cancelled flights with people, anyone, walking up to take them. It's getting organized by last name. An anonymous employee tells me it's 'so much better' than yesterday... and still this."

Denver7 News reporter Pattrik Perez posted video showing hundreds of bags at Denver International Airport, taken at 9:30 pm local time.

The journalist wrote: "Hundreds, if not thousands, of bags belonging to Southwest Airlines passengers remain."

Speaking to Newsweek, a spokesperson for Southwest Airlines confirmed the company will be running a greatly reduced service over the next few days.

"We plan to operate a reduced schedule by flying roughly one third of our schedule for the next several days. The latest information, including a video from our CEO Bob Jordan is available on SWAMedia.com," the spokesperson said.

"We implemented a site where customers can contact Southwest to rebook or request a refund: southwest.com/traveldisruption. [Our] teams are finalizing a resource to assist customers with reuniting with lost or missing baggage.

"Additionally, our travel advisory is still in effect to offer customers maximum flexibility with rebooking.

"The Southwest team is working to accommodate customers on available flights as soon as possible, and we apologize for the inconvenience to our customers."

In Jordan's video message, mentioned by the airlines spokesperson, the CEO said he was "truly sorry" for the disruption, which he said was caused by flights and crew being out of position due to the bad weather.

However, speaking to CNN on Tuesday, Captain Mike Santoro, vice president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, said the airline had been warned its systems were inadequate.

He said: "We have been telling them this for years. This is the largest disruption I've seen in my 16 years at the airline. It's embarrassing."

Across the United States, at least 62 people have been confirmed dead as a result of the unofficially named winter storm Elliott, with the number expected to rise as milder weather allows rescue efforts to intensify.