Delta Airlines charges troops for bags: A military unit returning to the United States from Afghanistan was charged $2,800 — or $200 per soldier — in extra baggage fees on a June 7th flight from Baltimore’s Washington International Airport.

 

The unit was told to pay the fees before boarding the flight or leave the bags. The airline, which has had a long standing contract with the Federal Government to 'waive' all baggage fees of military personnel coming home from active duty or traveling on military orders decided that they no longer had to honor the contract and blatantly charged the soldiers $200 each out of their own pocket. Some welcome home if you ask me.

 

Delta Airlines says its policy is to waive extra baggage fees for up to four bags in business and first class, and three bags in coach, to accommodate active duty US military service members. It’s not clear where the soldiers appearing in the video were seated, but one says he was charged $200 for his fourth bag. I personally don't give a crap how many bags these men and women are bringing home. They just served our country : Let them bring 100 bags if the want to. After all, if it wasn't for them, Delta wouldn't be so free of a company to even exist.

 

  On Wedneday night, Delta Airlines changed their policy on baggage of all military personnel. The posting they made on their website is below:

 

STATEMENT FROM DELTA AIRLINES AS POSTED ON THEIR WEBSITE

 

Thank you to everyone who has participated in the recent conversations on baggage allowances for active duty U.S. military personnel. We appreciate all of your thoughts and insight, and want to share an update on the soldiers involved as well as changes to our official policies.

 

First and foremost, we want you to know we’re continuing to work with the soldiers individually to make this situation right for each of them. We regret that this experience caused these soldiers to feel anything but welcome on their return home. We honor their service and are grateful for the sacrifices of our military service members and their families.

 

After careful consideration, effective immediately, U.S. military personnel traveling on orders in First Class and BusinessElite can check up to five bags at no charge and 4 bags in economy class. 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.

 

We hope these changes to our policies reflect the true respect we hold for our service men and women and again demonstrate our appreciation as both a company and as individuals who benefit from the freedom our troops defend. We also hope this echoes our commitment to listening, learning, and our continued dedication to constant improvement.

 

As an Army wife and 12 year Delta employee I also want to take this opportunity to shed some light on the additional ways we work to support U.S. Military personnel and their families throughout the travel process as well as in the community. We are a longstanding supporter military support organizations such as the Fisher House Foundation and United Service Organization.

 

At the airport, our employees are also committed to providing comfort to our military travelers on the plane, at the gates and in our Sky Clubs. We actively carry thousands of military personnel and equipment every week. I’m also proud to say that Delta is comprised of thousands of military service men and women—actively serving, retired, reserve, National Guard and more—and it’s another reason I’m passionate in Delta’s efforts to support our soldiers.

 

I want to again personally thank you for your passion and for participating in the discussions on our social media channels and beyond, and look forward to continuing the dialogue.

 

Rachael R. 

Manager, Delta Social Media

 

Personally I think the response is too little too late. They have already done the damage. Raising the limit by one bag is a complete joke and they only did it to make this PR nightmare go away. Did they honestly think America would just forgive them and move on? I mean come on, how many companies have you ever known to up and change their entire company policy in less than 24 hours? They were only thinking of themselves when they changed this policy.

We need to keep the heat on Delta and demand they make a public apology for their actions. Simply posting an update on their website and blogs is not good enough. America deserves better than that! We demand a formal video appolgy from the CEO of Delta addressing the actions of their airline. We also ask that Delta make a charitable contribution to the Veterans Association. We'll leave it up to Delta what they feel is an acceptable amount to donate.

Please take a moment to re-share the link to this petition with all your twitter and Facebook friends and encourage your friends to do the same. We have to stand up together and tell Delta that what they did is completely wrong and that what they did will not be going away anytime soon!!!