Air travel is back to normal as spring break season brings tens of thousands of travelers to airports across the country.

But now, passengers hoping to check bags for their trips are going to have to pay more with this airline.

Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines is increasing the fees for checked luggage starting Wednesday, April 8. The new fees will apply on any tickets purchased on or after Wednesday, but not to tickets purchased before this date.

Here’s what to know.

New pricing for checked bags with Delta

A price hike on the fee for checked bags with Delta will be applied to domestic and certain short-haul international flights, like those in and around North America, according to Delta Air Lines. Long-haul international bag pricing will not change.

A Delta spokesperson told USA TODAY the changes were “part of Delta’s ongoing review of pricing across its business and reflect the impact of evolving global conditions and industry dynamics.”

Your first checked bag will now be $45 and your second checked bag will be $55, both prices are a $10 increase from the previous fee. There is a $50 increase in price for the third checked bag, now reaching $200.

Delta premium cabin customers, elite frequent flyers and those with co-branded credit cards will keep their free checked bag benefits.

Why are airlines increasing prices?

Delta is now the third airline to announce increase bag prices this spring, following United Airlines and JetBlue. United will honor a lower price for passengers that pre-pay, and JetBlue will have slightly different prices based on whether it’s a peak travel time or not, like spring break season.

The conflict in the Middle East is driving up the price of jet fuel, and travel experts are encouraging people who anticipate flying over the summer to consider purchasing their tickets now before the price of flights also increase. This is also likely a primary driver in the increased bag prices.

A two-week ceasefire was announced Tuesday, but it’s unclear how long it will take for oil and gas prices to come down in the United States.

The airlines are also coming off of a period of chaos inside the airports as TSA agents went weeks without pay as part of a partial government shutdown. While the airlines are not responsible for airport security, many passengers missed their flights waiting in exceptionally long lines, and any flight delay only added to the network of issues.

Irene Wright is following the partial government shutdown and Iran conflict’s impact on Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Find the Atlanta Connect reporter on X @IreneEWright or email her at ismith@usatodayco.com.

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — An Atlanta police officer accidentally shot themselves in downtown Atlanta on Tuesday night, according to the police department.

A spokesperson for Atlanta police said the incident happened on McAfee Street NW.

The officer “sustained a self-inflicted non-fatal injury as a result of an accidental discharge,” the spokesperson said.

This is a developing story. Check back with Atlanta News First for updates.

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In what was the best NBA game of the night, the Hawks and the Knicks battled till the very last shot and New York came out on top. It was a playoff like atmostphere and the game was played with the intensity and physicality of a postseason game.

Despite the Hawks losing this game, they have to feel something about being able to go toe to toe with one of the favorites in the Eastern Conference. They want to win these games of course, but they are continuing to show that their late season surge is not a fluke.

Let’s break down the good, the bad, and the ugly from last night.

The Good

Nickeil Alexander-Walker tallied a game-high 36 points on 12-19 shooting, including 7-11 from beyond the arc, to go along with two rebounds and three assists in 39 minutes of play, marking his 74th game of the season with 10-or-more points, the third-most double-digit scoring outings amongst all players in the NBA this season and the most by an Eastern Conference player. Alexander-Walker has recorded his 15th career game with 30+ points. Of his 15 career 30-point performances, 10 have come since joining the Hawks this season.

With his seven makes from deep, Alexander-Walker has knocked down 244 three-pointers this season, surpassing Bogdan Bogdanovic (240, 2023-24) for the most triples in a single season in franchise history. The Virginia Tech product has buried at least one three-pointer in 25 consecutive contests, the second-longest such streak of his career.

Dyson Daniels recorded 11 points in addition to a game-high tying 12 rebounds, three assists and two steals in 38 minutes of action, marking his league-leading 49th multi-steal game of the season. With his ninth rebound of the game, Daniels grabbed his 500th board of the season, becoming just the second Hawks guard in franchise history to record 500 rebounds in a single season, joining Lou Hudson in 1968-69 (533).

Jalen Johnson recorded 21 points, shooting 3-5 from deep, in addition to 11 rebounds and five assists in 41 minutes of play, marking his 48th double-double of the season, the third-most such games in the NBA this season. In tonight’s victory, Johnson notched his 28th game of the season with 20+ points and 10+ rebounds, the most by a Hawk in a season since Kevin Willis in 1993-94 (31).

CJ McCollum recorded 17 points in addition to six assists, three rebounds, two steals, and two blocks in 35 minutes of play, marking his 66th game of the season scoring 10-or-more points.

Onyeka Okongwu recorded 12 points in addition to eight rebounds in 37 minutes of action, marking his 60th double-digit scoring performance of the season and the 205th of his career.

The Hawks had 19 offensive rebounds last night and actually finished with an edge on the glass.

Atlanta won the possession battle, taking 11 more shots than the Knicks.

Atlanta held New York to 11-33 shooting from three.

The Bad

The offense was not good enough for the Hawks, despite the big night from Alexander-Walker. Atlanta shot 41.5% on twos and Atlanta missed a lot of shots that they normally make. If you want to feel good about this loss if you are a Hawks fan, I think you can count on them making those shots more often than not, but they did not have it last night.

Atlanta was outscored 52-34 in the paint.

While the Hawks grabbed 19 offensive rebounds, they were only able to score 13 second chance points.

The Knicks scored 21 points off the Hawks 15 turnovers.

The Knicks had 29 assists last night, Hawks had 23. Atlanta leads the league in assists and it is rare to see them lose that stat.

The Ugly

The Hawks sorely missed Jock Landale in this game. While the Hawks won the overall rebounding battle, they allowed Mitchell Robinson to come off the bench and score eight points and grab 12 rebounds. His presence against Mouahmed Gueye and the backup bigs was noticeable and if these two do end up meeting in the postseason, that will be something to watch.

While he is one of the most clutch players in the league, the Hawks cannot allow Jalen Brunson to score 17 points in the fourth quarter. He took over the game and won it on his own in the final quarter.