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Airport anxiety gets the best of international travelers when they have to, once again, go through baggage check-in and security clearance for their connecting flights, especially with short connection time on hand. Delta Airlines is going to put an end to this stressful part of the passenger journey. Very soon, you will not have to recheck-in your bags when transferring from international to domestic flights at US airports!
To make flight connections as hassle-free as possible, Delta Air Lines is planning to eliminate baggage recheck-in for international arrivals in USA. At present, travelers are required to collect their checked-in bags after arriving at an international airport in the USA, go through customs, and then recheck-in the bags for their connecting domestic flight. This will end once Delta rolls out the through baggage check-in policy, wherein the airline will transport your checked bags all the way to your final destination, thus saving you the time and hassle of rechecking bags on connecting flights.
The pilot program, in its first phase, will be rolled out for travelers from South Korea’s Seoul Incheon International Airport and Japan’s Tokyo-Haneda International Airport at the earliest this year. Delta will then extend the program to cover its passengers from London and Frankfurt, and eventually, for all US-bound travelers from Asia and Europe with onward domestic connections in the US.
Delta Airlines currently operates nonstop flights from Seoul to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP), and Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW). International passengers arriving at these Delta hub airports won’t have to re-check-in baggage for onward domestic connections to New York, San Francisco, Washington DC, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Honolulu and other US cities in Delta’s domestic network.
At present, only those travelers arriving from foreign airports with the US Preclearance facility can skip baggage recheck-in and customs clearance (among other inspections) upon arrival in USA.
The likely elimination of the current baggage recheck-in mandate will enable travelers to lounge away for some extra time between flights. This may also bring down minimum connection time for your flights, meaning layovers will be shorter in future. As per reports, Delta Airlines is in talks with the US government officials regarding a pilot trial in 2024. Hope other US airlines would follow suit sooner or later.
