From check-in to plane, this is what happens to your bags at Atlanta’s airport

ATLANTA — What happens to your checked luggage after you drop it off at the airport?

You see your bags get tagged, put on a conveyor, and then your items are out-of-sight until you get to your destination. But what happens once the bags are taken off that conveyor belt?

Channel 2′s Jorge Estevez got a behind-the-scenes look at the whole process from check-in, to loading, to the miles of belts beneath Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport where everything -- and everyone -- is working together to deliver your bags on time and to the right place.

Estevez quickly found out that safety is a top priority from start to finish. He had to put on a safety hat and gloves as he headed into the loading area.

There, your bags are placed onto carts and shuttled to the correct airplane. There is a board that tells workers how long each flight has until departure. In 2022, agents loaded about 75,000 bags onto the carts, each day.

“What is the biggest challenge?” Estevez asked Michael Johnson, operational service manager for Delta.

“Making sure it gets to the right cart and then on the correct aircraft,” Johnson said.

Estevez then drove with a Delta Air Lines team from the loading area to a plane that was leaving for Austin, Tx, which was set to depart in 40 minutes.

It was time to load the bags. As crew members grabbed each bag by its handles, they also scanned the tags.

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Estevez scanned a bag that gave a warning message. Turns out, the scan is also a checkpoint.

“Is something wrong with the bag?” Estevez asked Johnson.

“That means that bag is at the wrong destination,” Johnson said.

Delta also took Estevez inside their control room where Delta’s general manager of bag rooms and service levels Kirk Pilliner introduced him to the team that observes moving bags 24/7.

Inside the room, the team reacts to potential problems.

Pilliner showed Estevez, several color-coded monitors. The color green means everything is operating smoothly. The magenta color means bags are cascading, and the area needs to be addressed.

“We’ll call somebody. They can go out there and clear those jams up as quickly as possible,” Pilliner said.

They also have surveillance cameras pointed at each conveyor. The belts can back-track mishandled luggage if needed.

Training for the job includes both classroom and hands-on training.

New employees need to learn Delta’s rules and security procedures from the city of Atlanta for the airport itself.

Estevez asked Pilliner what his favorite part of the job was.

“Being out here where the planes are coming in and going out. Seeing where the rubber meets the road, so to speak,” Pilliner said.

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