'We cannot offload your luggage' as WestJet cargo door freezes shut in cold snap

It almost sounds like a "just how cold is it" joke: Airline passengers arriving at the Region of Waterloo International Airport from Calgary Wednesday morning had to wait a few extra minutes for their luggage because the plane's door was frozen shut.

Ross MacKenzie was with his mother at the airport for her return flight to British Columbia when the WestJet plane landed around 6 a.m.

He said he saw passengers go to the luggage carousel and wait then wait some more.

He helped his mother check in, then went to check her bag.

"Just as we're about todo the baggage drop they put this announcement out saying, 'We apologize for the delay, but the cargo door on the plane is frozen shut and we cannot offload your luggage,'" MacKenzie recalled with a chuckle.

"I've never heard that one before."

MacKenzie said his mother's flight was delayed about half an hour while crews worked to open the frozen door and unload, then load the luggage.

It was 14 C at 6 a.m. Wednesday morning at the airport, feeling like 24.

Environment Canada issued a special weather statement Wednesday afternoon to warn of a cold snap coming to southern Ontario late Thursday.

"A bitterly cold northwesterly flow will develop over southern Ontario Thursday. Extreme cold warning criteria of minus 30 is expected," the statement said.

The cold snap will end on Sunday when a southwesterly flow develops.