Just back home after a lovely trip to Peru. Flew in from CUZ and are very annoyed that our luggage was purposely not loaded by Avianca.

Luggage for ALL passengers was not loaded for that flight because of "wind factor". We were told it was the pilot's decision. I find this arbitrary decision weak to say the least. It was a sunny, beautiful day in CUZ with nary a breeze.

When Avianca flight AV 830 landed, it took just a few minutes for pax to deplane before we, Lima-bound pax boarded. I was surprised and remarked to my husband that we'd probably be on a less than clean plane! I did not think there would have been time for cleaning, for refuelling, etc.

Upon arrival in LIM, an airport employee directed us to carousel #4. While all pax congregated around the conveyor belt, an Avianca rep at a desk nearby, picked up a weak microphone and, speaking in spitfire Spanish, asked pax to come to her desk. She was barely audible and I figured I should go check it out. A male pax beat me to it and as I listened in dismay about what was transpiring, I beckoned to my husband who was waiting patiently by the conveyor belt.

The Avianca rep at LIM airport explained that the "wind factor" at CUZ causes frequent disruptions of this nature! BUT, there was no announcement by the airline prior to departure that our luggage would be deliberately left behind on the sole decision of the pilot.

As we left, the line to the Avianca desk had picked up but there were still quite a few standing by the conveyor belt. We dutifully informed them to join the other queue as nobody's luggage was on that flight.

Questions:

Has this kind of problem happened to any of you FT'ers?

Are you aware that CUZ is notorious for frequent disruptions of this type?

Can an airline legally leave behind checked passengers' luggage without first notifying them?