Delta Caught Charging $200 Baggage Fee to Homecoming U.S. Troops

Delta Airlines, under federal investigation for interfering with its flight attendants’ AFA-CWA election last year, has extended its disrespect for workers to American troops: The airline was caught this week charging servicemen and women returning from Afghanistan an extra $200 each to bring a fourth bag home.

Under a government contract with Delta, troops are supposed to be allowed four bags for free. Instead, Delta forced them to pay out of pocket, with one unit having to come up with $2,800 in baggage fees. It took several days of bad press before Delta announced it would refund the money.

For union members, a bright spot in the story is the way the website Think Progress reported it, starting with the headline “Anti-Union Delta Charges $2800 In Baggage Fees To Returning Afghanistan Troops.”

“Delta is not only willing to charge troops to bring their equipment back from a war zone, but is notoriously anti-union,” Think Progress reported, explaining how the National Mediation Board is investigating whether Delta illegally interfered to deny its flight attendants a union.

“In the past, Delta has engaged in all sorts of shenanigans when it came to union campaigns, including putting the names of dead workers on their employee lists, to up the bar for the number of votes required to approve a union,” the article continued. “Delta has also been accused of taking away seats from paying customers so that its employees can come to Washington, D.C. to lobby. So for Delta, it seems doing right by employees, customers, and even troops returning overseas is a bridge too far."

Click here for the original report from Think Progress.