Amid operational chaos at Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom, Delta Airlines recently came up with a “creative” solution to reunite passengers with their stranded luggage. The airline last week deployed a widebody plane to return only 1,000 pieces of luggage to the United States.
According to DailyExpertNews, a staff shortage at London’s Heathrow Airport has led to a service disruption in recent weeks. Airport officials responded to the canceled flights and massive complaints about lost luggage by telling airlines to limit the number of passengers at the airport to 100,000 per day.
So, Delta Airlines came up with a way to get the lost luggage from the airport even though it couldn’t take more passengers. The airline used an empty Airbus A330-200 to retrieve the lost suitcases.
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“Delta teams have come up with a creative solution to transport delayed checked baggage from London Heathrow on July 11 after a regularly scheduled flight had to be canceled due to restrictions on passenger volume at Heathrow,” the airlines said in a statement. DailyExpertNews.
“Delta Flight 9888 from Heathrow to Delta’s Detroit hub flew 1,000 bags back to the United States, where teams then forwarded the bags to our customers,” it added.
Delta’s A330-200 aircraft can accommodate up to 406 passengers and typically carry 210 and 250 passengers. The airline noted that even though it was a passenger-free flight, the bags flew where they usually fly — in the aircraft’s designated overhead bins, not in the passenger cabins.
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Meanwhile, Heathrow airport has struggled to keep up with the bags in recent weeks due to understaffing and an increase in travel. Due to the crisis, luggage has piled up after some passengers had to leave the terminals without their luggage.
Last month, a video surfaced online showing hundreds of suitcases on the floor at Heathrow Airport. Frustrated passengers posted photos and videos of the chaotic baggage sea on social media. Some users even claimed that there was a two-hour delay in retrieving their luggage.