To unite customers with their luggage and help remedy a baggage pileup at Heathrow Airport in London, Delta Air Lines sent a plane full of bags from London to the U.S.
The aircraft contained 1,000 bags and no passengers after a regularly scheduled flight was cancelled, separating customers who traveled through Heathrow from their belongings.
Delta transported the 1,000 pieces of luggage from London-Heathrow to Detroit on July 11, said a spokesperson for the airline, referring to the operation as “a creative solution to move delayed checked bags.”
Detroit-based Delta personnel then delivered the bags to the airline’s customers, the spokesperson added.
The aircraft, an Airbus A330-200, can accommodate up to 406 passengers depending on its configuration, and typically carries between 210 and 250 passengers, according to the manufacturer’s website.
Delta noted that the bags flew where they usually do, in the aircraft’s designated baggage bins, not the passenger cabin.
Air travel has been hectic this summer, particularly at travel hubs across Europe, where many Americans are vacationing since COVID-19 pandemic restrictions have been loosened.
Heathrow Airport in particular has been plagued by congestion and flight-related mishaps.
Operations have been so disrupted that the airport recently called on airlines to stop selling tickets on flights to Heathrow.
It is also capping the number of passengers it can accommodate at 100,000 per day through September 11.
