A Delta Air Lines Boeing 757-200 lifts off from Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta on April 30, 2007. The company announced a new carry-on bag valet service. File Photo by John Dickerson/UPI | License Photo

ATLANTA, June 3 (UPI) -- In an effort to move passengers onto airplanes quicker, Delta Air Lines is beginning a complimentary program to load passengers' carry-on bags for them.

Called Early Valet service, airport customer service agents will take passenger carry ons into the aircraft before general boarding and stow them above the customer's assigned seats. It will only be offered on a fraction of Delta flights and the employees who stow the bags will decline tips, Delta spokesman Morgan Durrant said.


"Their bag will be specially tagged, similar to what you'd see at a hotel for room delivery," said Durrant, "and then taken down onto the aircraft before boarding and placed above a customer's seat based on their seat assignment."

The program started on a trial basis last year and expanded June 1 in cities that include Atlanta, Detroit, Seattle, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Salt Lake City and New York. It was tested last year at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and at Los Angeles International Airport and showed some time savings in the boarding process, Durrant said.