Delta flew a plane from Heathrow to the U.S. just to deliver 1,000 pieces of stranded luggage.

There were no passengers on the Delta plane that flew from London to Detroit this week. The luggage was owned by Delta customers who were separated from their bags due to travel disruptions.

Delta decided to send the plane, an A330-200, to deliver 1,000 pieces of stranded luggage to Detroit on Monday, and from there the airline transported them to their owners across the U.S.

There has been a lot of travel this year. Staffing shortages, the swine flu and high demand from travelers have caused scores of canceled and delayed flights. More than 1,400 flights were canceled in and out of the United States during the July Fourth weekend.

There have been a lot of problems at the airport. More flights were canceled last month because of a baggage system problem. The airport called on airlines to limit ticket sales in order to keep the number of departing passengers low.

David Elges was one of the passengers who lost luggage when they flew through London to Washington Dulles International Airport. He has woken up early several times to call Delta about his missing bags. He didn't know if his bags were on the plane that Delta would send to bring lost luggage back to the US.

He said it was difficult.

Consumer demand for travel is still robust even though there are a lot of hassles and higher prices. Delta said it expected strong demand to continue into the fall after reporting a quarterly profit of $735 million.