What to Know
- The infamous weekend of dysfunction at JFK started when the Jan. 4 snowstorm and subsequent cold snap spiraled out of control
- Aly Abrams was moving to Spain for a five-month study abroad term; she says her "entire closet" was lost in the fiasco
- She's since gotten baggage back -- but only a single boot and a bikini top -- and she says Air Europa's response has fueled her outrage
Months after a monster winter storm and water main break triggered a lost luggage fiasco at John F. Kennedy International Airport, one college student who had been moving abroad and says she lost $7,000 in clothes is still looking for everything but a bikini top and a single boot.
Rutgers junior Aly Abrams was moving to Spain for a five-month study abroad program when her bag was lost with thousands of others amid the January blizzard debacle.
The 21-year-old Abrams says that when she finally got it back months later, it was busted open and crudely taped together -- and the only items inside were the lone boot and bikini top.
"It's like a slap in the face," Abrams said, adding she had packed up basically her entire closet for the near half-year excursion. "All my clothes. All my jeans. All my skirts. All my dresses."
For more than two months, Abrams has been filing claims with Air Europa for answers. She says she finally got an email reading, "We would like to apologize for the inconvenience that this incident may have caused."
The airline offered her $180.32 for the thousands of dollars worth of items she said she lost.
"I thought it was a joke," Abrams said. "After all this, so much time wasted. And so much money was wasted."
The Air Europa letter also says if Abrams accepts the $180.32, she gives up the right to file any further claims. She doesn't plan to accept the payment. And she says she's not giving up.
"You would think an airline would want to have your safety and be responsible for something," she said.
Air Europa has yet to respond to News 4's requests for comment.
The infamous weekend of dysfunction at JFK started when the Jan. 4 snowstorm and subsequent cold snap spiraled into frozen equipment, planes waited hours for backed-up arrival gates, and a burst water pipe flooded one terminal, causing days of delays. Chopper 4 exclusively spotted piles of suitcases buried amid snow banks outside at JFK as desperate travelers wrote and called the station in an attempt to find their missing bags.
A Port Authority investigation is ongoing, but several improvement measures were immediately implemented at JFK, including a new 24/7 emergency operations center in advance of storms, a 90-minute tarmac limit and a new inspection of pipes and facilities.
