Venus Williams says her new ‘full-time job’ is contacting American Airlines over lost luggage

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It’s the surprise twist that nobody saw coming. US tennis superstar Venus Williams has announced her new full-time job: spending “day and night” calling an airline in an effort to track down her missing luggage.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion appointed herself to the new role after she flew with American Airlines into Montreal, Canada, to take part in a tournament – but her bags ended up around 1,400 miles away in the Bahamas.

Taking to Instagram, the 43-year-old tagged the airline in a story, writing that she loves flying with them and that she was “even in the million mile club”.

“I’m not sure why you sent my bag to the Bahamas when I was travelling to Montreal. Now I have a match today. I’ve been trying to get my bags for three days now. I think I spent all my unlimited minutes calling you all which has become my full-time job day and night.”

She sarcastically added “this has been so much fun” – followed by a smiling-crying emoji.

Ms Williams went on to lose to Madison Keys in straight sets in her match at Montreal’s Omnium Banque Nationale competition.

The Independent has contacted American Airlines for a comment.

As an American Airlines ‘million miler’, Ms Williams is entitled to ‘gold’ status for life, which means she doesn’t have to pay to check in bags, according to View from the Wing.

Anyone travelling to and from Canada who pays to put their luggage in the hold is entitled to a refund if their bags are lost, delayed or damaged by the airline.

Airlines were losing bags in the summer of 2022 at the highest rate for a decade, according to a report from earlier this year that shows a surge in “mishandled” luggage. The “exponential” climb means a total of 26 million bags were misplaced in 2022.

In January, a woman shared how she was reunited with her suitcase four years after it was lost by United Airlines.