Delta Air Lines charges returning soldiers for checked bags

by Grant Martin on

A team of returning soldiers from Afghanistan was hit with an unpleasant surprise upon their arrival into the United States yesterday morning. The squadron, bringing a full load of gear with them back from the Central Asia was sacked with the baggage fees in place at Delta Air Lines, which, despite the agreement that they have with the armed forces charged the soldiers extra baggage fees.

In sum, the group spent nearly $2800 in baggage fees for their gear, money that had to come straight out of their pockets.




Obviously a policy is in place between the airline and the armed services that permits soldiers returning from war to bring back all of their gear without cost. What’s likely is that an uninformed agent at the connecting airport didn’t know about the rule and charged the group. Either way, Delta should fix the error and refund the fees.

UPDATE: Delta’s policy states that for military members, THREE checked bags are allowed in coach and FOUR checked bags are allowed in first, so the baggage fees may actually be correct. Whether Delta’s policy is palatable or not is another question, but it appears that the agents were charging the servicemen properly.

UPDATE 2, 11:34PM EST, 6/7: Delta just posted a blog article discussing today’s situation in which they discuss their policy. Specifically they state:

In the case of today’s situation, we would like to publicly apologize to those service men and women for any miscommunication regarding our current policies as well as any inconvenience we may have caused. We are currently looking further into the situation, and will be reaching out to each of them personally to address their concerns and work to correct any issues they have faced.

You can read Delta’s full post here.

UPDATE 3, 12:47pm EST, 6/8: Delta has updated their baggage policy:


ATLANTA, June 8, 2011 – Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) today increased its free checked baggage allotment for U.S. Military traveling on orders in Economy Class to four checked bags.

Delta’s revised baggage policy also allows U.S.military personnel travelingon orders in First and Business Class to check up to five bags at no charge. This change also adds dependents traveling with active military on orders. Each bag may weigh up to 70 lbs. (32 kg) and measure up to 80 linear inches (203 cm), which offers added flexibility over the standard 50 lbs. and 62 linear inches (157 cm) allotment. Because of weight, balance and space constraints, Delta Connection carriers will accept up to four bags at no charge.

For personal travel, active military presenting military identification may now check up to two bags weighing 50 pounds (23 kg) or less and measuring 62 inches (158 linear cm) or less in combined length, width and height without charge.

Previously, Delta’s policy allotted three free checked bags in Economy Class and four in First and Business Class for military members traveling on orders.

Details of Delta’s baggage policy are available on delta.com.

[thanks to reddit user redheaddeb for the tip]

Alaska’s ports of entry undergo major facelifts

by Libby Zay on

Visitors returning to Alaska will notice some major changes at several airports across the state. Terminals in Juneau, Anchorage and Fairbanks have undergone some dramatic changes recently that should make traveling through the major ports of entry go more smoothly.

The Juneau International Airport in the state capital has a newly renovated terminal with higher ceilings, more windows, better lights, a larger baggage terminal and more exit options. A light refracting awning was also installed to improve energy efficiency, and other weatherproofing measures such as new siding and the installation of heating coils in pedestrian walkways are now finished. The booth for the Juneau Convention and Visitors Bureau was also relocated to be more accessible to travelers.

In Anchorage, the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport finished up the final touches on more than a decade of work last month. Recent renovations include adding more space for dining options (including local restaurants) and some other aesthetic touches. The airport also just welcomed service between Long Beach and Anchorage on JetBlue, the first new domestic passenger carrier to Anchorage in six years.

The Fairbanks International Airport (pictured above) also recently opened a brand new terminal. Improvements include new boarding gates, higher ceilings, more windows, a larger baggage terminal and curbside improvements. The old terminal was demolished to make way for the new one, which follows modern security standards and has six jet-bridges (up from the former five).

If you could nominate any airport in the U.S. for an upgrade, which one would it be? My personal choice would be Newark Liberty International Aiport, but I’m sure there are some airports in need of attention that I haven’t touched down at yet.

[Photo courtesy the Fairbanks Convention & Visitors Bureau]

Video of the Day – Make your travel photos Hollywood-worthy

by Stephen Greenwood on

Vacation photos can sometimes be disappointing, or at very least, a little less ‘epic’ than how you remembered them. But as Youtube user postjhb shows us in today’s Video of the Day, all it takes to turn those summer vacation stills into moving masterpieces is a Photoshop tutorial and a little creative energy.

If you need some inspiration for this summer’s big getaway, hit play & check out postjhb’s technique. It boils down to 4 simple steps; taking two good photos (one with the subject & one without), extracting the subject from the background in Photoshop, and then using a video editor to cause the two layers to move against each other. The full process is outlined here.

If that’s a little too complicated, try some of Gadling’s easy Travel Photo Tips so that you’re all ready to shoot like a pro as this summer kicks off! If you already have a shot (or video) you’re proud of, submit it to Gadling’s Flickr Pool or leave a comment below & it could be our next Photo/Video of the Day!

Detroit’s Urban Farms: Budget Battles and Milking Goats

by Paul Brady on

I had never milked a goat before the time I wrapped my fingers around Apple’s teat and squeezed, inside a barn on a one-acre plot next to a public school in Woodbridge, Detroit. Two volunteers at the farm, Doug Reith and Leeann Drees, offered to bring me along for their turn at tending the animals at the Catherine Ferguson Academy, a school that’s also home to one of the city’s best known urban farms, made so by its appearance in the much-lauded documentary Grown in Detroit and a profile in Oprah Magazine.

Urban farms have become sort of cliche in Detroit, cast as a gardener’s pipe dream that will save the city, one batch of arugula at a time. There’s no question that many stories on the subject have been done. But at the Catherine Ferguson Academy, a school for pregnant teens and young mothers, four in five girls participate in free and reduced-price meal programs. Cliche or not, this is a city that needs cheap, nutrient-dense food — the kind that comes out of the sun and soil of a farm, urban or otherwise.

But the pastures at CFA, as its known, are facing a crisis.

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As Rachel Maddow recently reported, city-wide budget cuts are threatening to close the school, and if that happens, the fields will go fallow. My hosts Doug and Leeann, who make cheese with surplus goat milk harvested from the farm, told me about a protest to keep the school open, a sit-in that was quickly broken up by police.

Why risk arrest to protest the school’s closure? Says one student in a YouTube video of the sit-in, talking about pregnant women, including herself, “Sometimes it’s like we don’t have no hope. Basically it’s our job to give them some hope. You can’t just let them feel like they’re alone. [This says to them] You’re not alone, because you’ve got people like us fighting for you.”

As the budgetary fight wages on-a decision on CFA is scheduled for this summer-the goats still need to be milked twice a day. As the sun was setting and the mosquitoes were coming out in force, Apple and her pen-mate Royal, gave almost two liters of milk, most of which will stay on the farm. (I was most proud of myself for avoiding the flying hooves of Apple, who probably hasn’t been called docile lately.)

Walking past the rabbit warrens, hen house and horse pasture, where the school’s brown mare trotted over to greet us, Doug and Leeann wondered what would happen to the farm if the school was shut down. Without girls and volunteers and, yes, money to tend the fields, they’d probably just be abandoned. Like so much else in Detroit.


Airline tarmac delays: the first full year of results is in!

by Tom Johansmeyer on

We’re now looking back on a full year of limited tarmac delays. In April 2010, the airline industry seemed like it was begging and pleading with the American public not to accept the insanity that the government was forcing upon them. Mayhem would rule, the industry claimed, as standards for performance would prevent everyone from getting anywhere. It would be ugly … far uglier than the service the airlines had provided so far.

Throughout the year, Gadling has checked in to let you know that the airline industry did not fall apart as a result of shorter tarmac delays. With airlines only able to sit out there for three hours before facing hefty fines, the result has been noticeable – and positive.

“On the one-year anniversary of the tarmac delay rule, it’s clear that we’ve accomplished our goal of virtually eliminating the number of aircraft leaving travelers stranded without access to food, water, or working lavatories for hours on end,” says U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in a statement. “This is a giant step forward for the rights of air travelers.”
And indeed, it is. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, only 20 tarmac delays of more than three hours were reported in the first 12 months the rule was in effect. For the year prior, the total reached an astounding – and severe – 693.

Meanwhile, the number of canceled flights with tarmac delays of at least two hours edged only a tad higher, from 336 in the May 2009-to-April 2010 period to 387 in the 12 months that followed. This indicator is used to gauge flights canceled to avoid the three-hour rule because the DOT believed it’s the most likely set of flights to be cut.

And, this is the metric where airline industry mayhem would be visible. A 15.2 percent increase – in light of a 97.1 percent decline in delays of three hours or longer – pretty much tells the story.

The numbers say it all: airlines can be held to higher standards. And, the threat of heavy fines is incredibly effective. Now, if only we could levy fines for substandard customer service …