What does Sky Priority mean for checked bags?
 

What exactly does the Sky Priority tag mean in DL bag system? Was on CDG-RDU flight yesterday. Breezed through Immigration and waited for the checked bag to arrive. Carousal started moving, bags started coming out, but there didn't appear to be any difference between those with the yellow "Sky Priority" tag and those without. Waited for more than 30 minutes before my single checked bag with the yellow Sky Priority tag to eventually come out, almost the last one out of the 767, apparently without any "Priority" treatment. Anyone can shed some light on this?

Its supposed to come out first but usually doesn't domestically however in Asia it has almost always been the first out

It is all very station-dependent. Many times it means nothing at all. International aircraft that use Unit Load containers for bags often follow a "Last On First Off" system in my experience, so if you check in early, you might be waiting longer at the belt.

I have also seen dedicated SP baggage claim areas roped off and even a baggage handler removing the SP bags and placing them in a special claim area. Although neither has happened in the past 3-4 years. The general trend is that SP tags are losing their "priority" status over the past few years. The good news is that DL's overall baggage handling has improved over that time.

My experience has been, domestically at least, most stations are quite sure to get SP bags out first. Don't remember the last time I had to wait more than a few minutes for an SP-tagged bag.

International arrivals - particularly without port of departure preclearance - are always going to be a crap-shoot. Bags are delivered only after CBP approves them. That may not explain why non-priority-tagged bags arrived first, however.

This is a huge understatement. Some stations are pretty iffy, but some totally rock (SAV comes to mind - my SP tagged bags has always been one of the first to arrive.)

We can rag on DL for things that they do wrong, but you are correct - this is one area where DL has substantially improved over the last several years. ^

LAX, JFK (domestic), LAS, and sometimes ATL (around 1/3 of the time) have had some issues with SP bags coming out randomly in my experience.
PHX, PBI, MCO, ORD, SFO have all been pretty good.

Above is based on if I see multiple non-SP bags from my flight on the belt while SP bags are still being delivered. Not just the 20-minute rule, which affects everyone.
YMMV as with almost everything baggage-related.

My experience in mainland China (domestic and international) is that the airlines (MU, CZ, MF) take priority baggage seriously and it is almost always first on the belt. A shame about Europe and, often, North America.

My experience with JFK has been pretty positive with SP bags down and on the belt before I even make it to the claim, LAX on the other hand...not so much

Sky Priority - Thumbs Up
 

I must be lucky in general. I normally fly Business with KLM from Dubai to Inverness via Amsterdam. My bag normally comes out first or a few behind at Inverness. Perhaps due to the small Embrea KLM uses, and that Inverness is small like a garden shed. Sky Priority works out well for me ususlly, even on the return leg to Dubai.

If you were me this weekend, Sky Priority meant my bag got left behind overnight in SEA on the way to SNA. :rolleyes: Everyone else's yellow-tagged SP bags came out first at SNA though, so some stations do get those bags out first (at least some of the time).