Originally Posted by
flyerCO
While that is the rule at AA, there's no rule that a passenger can't voluntarily separate on domestic flights. At DL if you do a SDC/SDS at a kiosk/online it will even give a message that you are voluntarily separating from your bags and that they'll get them to the airport, but not deliver them.
AA does allow voluntary separation from baggage for SDFC/SDS if the passenger is an elite.