This is actually how DHL got their start in the late 60s. They paid the entire flight ticket for people on select routes (initially SF to Honolulu), in exchange

This is actually how DHL got their start in the late 60s. They paid the entire flight ticket for people on select routes (initially SF to Honolulu), in exchange for those people giving over their luggage allowance to DHL to courier valuable documents (such as bills of lading). [1] Two points: 1) they were more innocent times and 2) DHL restricted itself to asking third parties to only carry paper documents [1] https://www.flexport.com/blog/dhl-bills-of-lading/ https://www.flexport.com/blog/dhl-bills-of-lading/