Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Delta charges troops $2,800 in excess baggage fees

Raw Story

It's not uncommon for air travel passengers to complain about airlines' baggage policies and treatment of customers, but when it's members of the U.S. military coming home from Afghanistan raising complaints about unfair rules, the grievances tend to be amplified.

Staff Sgts. Fred Hilliker and Robert O’Hair made a video* while on a Delta flight from BWI, where they had a connection on their way home from Afghanistan to Arizona. In the video, they say that despite a contract between airline carriers and the military that says military personnel coming home will not be charged for baggage, the two and their colleagues were each subjected to a $200 extra bag fee. The soldiers in the unit paid out of pocket a total of $2,800 in extra baggage fees for their fourth bag of equipment.

"What was that fourth bag for you?" O'Hair asks.

"For me, it was a weapons case," Hilliker responds, "holding my M-4, a grenade launcher and a 9mm, the tools I used to protect myself and the Afghan citizens while I was deployed in the country."

*The video has been removed, but there are comments at their channel.

This is absolutely unconscionable on Delta's part.

Note to Delta: We're paying you to get these guys, and their gear, home. Knock off the cheap shit.

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