Heathrow Airport is one of the busiest airports in the world, and it's experiencing both a surge of travelers, and a shortage of workers. As a result, thousands of people are leaving the airport while their bags stay behind.

There just aren't enough workers to keep up with the volume of luggage passing through the airport.

In one case, Delta said it led to roughly 1,000 pieces of luggage being left behind. The passengers were able to be rebooked on other flights, but their luggage stayed behind. That is, until Delta came up with a brilliant idea.

The canceled flight couldn't transport any passengers, but that didn't mean it couldn't carry their baggage back to the U.S. So Delta loaded up the Airbus A330 with 1,000 pieces of luggage and flew them to Detroit where they could be transported to wherever the passengers ended up.

https://www.inc.com/jason-aten/delta-lost-1000-pieces-of-luggage-airlines-response-was-a-stroke-of-genius.html