[AnsgarWilke]

I had recently an unpleasant experience at the Airtran baggage drop off in Atlanta.
Having checked in electronically for flight 140 to Detroit I just wanted to drop off my bag at the Airtran counter. I was asked to wait in a queue of just 3 people, therefore not expecting any problems since it was 55 min before scheduled departure.
Strangely the baggage drop off was handled by the same 2 counters that also handled business class passengers.
Since suddenly several business class passengers arrived and they were handled with priority it took around 15 min to get to the counter.

When the clerk told me that they could not check in my bag since it would be 40 min before the flight I was more shocked than angry since I simply could not believe that I should suffer from their ineffectively organized baggage drop off.
So I complained to the Airtran supervisor that this would not be acceptable, but just got the reply that I would get my luggage via a later airtran flight to Detroit that day.
After arrival at the gate in Detroit I was surprised when I saw from the plane window that my bag was unloaded.
So my complaint about the inefficient baggage drop off seemed to have helped; still this kind of "service" leaves a bad taste

Remark:
The Airtran check-in in other cities seems to be better organized than in Atlanta; delays when checking in are more frequent in Atlanta than in other airports.