Delta to make big changes after millions of bees die on hot airport tarmac

ATLANTA — Last weekend, metro Atlanta beekeepers scrambled to try to rescue millions of dying bees that were left on the tarmac at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in the heat. This week, Delta made a statement saying changes are being made to prevent a situation like this from happening in the future.

In an emailed statement, Delta spokeswoman Catherine Morrow told The Associated Press on Friday that the airline “was made aware of the shipment situation and quickly engaged the appropriate internal teams to assess the situation. We have taken immediate action to implement new measures to ensure events of this nature do not occur in the future.”

Delta did not go into detail about what the specific changes would be.

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Two hundred packages of bees were supposed to be flown directly from Sacramento, CA, to Anchorage, Alaska, but somehow ended up at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, according to the Metro Atlanta Beekeeper’s Association.

After four days, the bees started to escape and workers took the cargo containers outside in the heat, WABE reported.

The person who was supposed to get the bees reached out to local beekeeper Edward Morgan, hoping to get help rescuing the bees.

Morgan headed to the airport, not sure what to expect, and went to the Delta cargo area. When they started opening the cargo, they saw that bees were dead in at least 10 of the packages.

Morrow said Delta issued an apology.

The airline declined to make anyone available for an interview.

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