Delta Charges Returning Soldiers For Extra Bags, Then Changes Policy

Reacting to public outcry, Delta says it will allow members of the military to check four bags for free.

The news came after two Army soldiers returning from Afghanistan complained in an online video that Delta charged their unit a total of $2,800 when some of them checked a fourth bag.

In a video posted on YouTube, the soldiers say their Army orders authorized them to bring up to four bags with them as they returned from Afghanistan to Fort Polk in Louisiana.

They say when their 34-member unit checked in at Baltimore-Washington International Airport for Delta flight 1625 on Tuesday, the airline charged them $200 each if they had a fourth bag.

One staff sergeant says in the video that his fourth bag was a weapons case containing his M4 carbine rifle, a grenade launcher and a 9 millimeter pistol.

Delta Air Lines Inc. has long allowed three checked bags for active duty military members flying in coach, with charges beginning with a fourth bag. The soldiers said their travel orders allowed four bags.

The video of the two soldiers on a flight from Baltimore to Atlanta went viral and put Delta on the defensive. The video had clocked more than 234,000 views on YouTube by midday Wednesday.

Delta’s website now reads:

Active duty U.S. military personnel traveling on orders to or from duty stations are allowed up to four checked bags in Economy Class and up to five checked bags in First and Business Class on Delta and Delta Connection® carriers at no charge. Each bag may weigh up to 70 lbs. (32 kg) and measure up to 80 linear inches (203 cm). Additionally, military personnel traveling on personal business will be allowed two checked bags up to 50 lbs (23 kg) and 62 linear inches (158 cm) at no charge.

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