Delta Airlines Early Valet service: Airline trials pre-loading cabin luggage to speed up boarding

Could the battle for overhead luggage space on planes become a thing of the past?

Delta Airlines believes so, after introducing an Early Valet service where staff pre-load passengers' hand luggage above their allotted seat before boarding begins.

The scheme, which should end the politely tense exercise of ensuring that your luggage finds a home above anyone else's, is also designed to speed up the boarding process, clawing back the lost minutes of blocked aisles and overstuffed lockers.

With more and more airline passengers choosing to fly with hand luggage only to avoid the cost of paying for the hold and the risk of lost bags, the race for the overhead compartments has become increasingly fraught.

Last year budget airline Jetstar introduced cabin baggage officers to crack down on passengers who try sneak on oversized or heavy carry-on luggage on board, instead of paying to check-in them in. The trial was rolled out to the airports in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Cairns and the Gold Coast.

The valet bag service is being trialled by the American airline on about two dozen routes out of Delta's busiest airports, including Atlanta, New York and Seattle, but spokesperson Morgan Durrant said it is expected to be rolled out further.

It will initially target flights with a high number of holidaymakers, as opposed to business passengers, presumably because they're an orderly bunch more committed to the plane leaving on time.