Airlines Will Use Apple AirTags To Track Lost Bags

Airlines Will Use Apple AirTags To Track Lost Bags

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As any frequent traveler knows, Apple AirTags are invaluable for tracking bags, especially given the rates at which some airlines mishandle bags. The issue is that while Apple AirTags can tell you where your bags are, there hasn’t been much integration with airlines, in terms of being able to share that information with airlines. Along those lines, there’s an exciting development

Apple Find My will allow users to share location of lost items

Apple has introduced Share Item Location, a new iOS feature that helps users locate and recover misplaced items by easily and securely sharing the location of an AirTag or Find My network accessory with third parties.

While this can be useful in a variety of situations, perhaps the best use case is for airlines, when a bag is misplaced or lost. If you’ve ever dealt with a misplaced bag and had an Apple AirTag, you’re probably aware of how frustrating this can be. You might know exactly where your bag is, but actually sharing that information with an airline (and getting them to act based on it) is easier said than done.

This new feature is available as part of the public beta of iOS 18.2, which will soon be available to all users as a free software update for iPhone Xs and later. For those worried about privacy, the shared location will be disabled as soon as a user is reunited with their item, and can be stopped by the owner at any time, and will automatically expire after seven days.

Here’s how Eddy Cue, Apple’s SVP of Services, describes this new technology:

“Find My is an essential tool for users around the world to keep track of and find their belongings. The Find My network and AirTag have proven to be a powerful combination for users while traveling, providing invaluable location information when bags have been misplaced or mishandled. With Share Item Location, we’re excited to give users a new way to easily share this information directly with third parties like airlines, all while protecting their privacy.”

Apple will let you share the location of lost items

The airlines that will use this new technology

Of course the technology being available is only one part of the equation, as that’s only so useful if airlines aren’t onboard with it. So there’s good news on that front. In the coming months, more than 15 airlines will begin accepting Find My item locations as part of their customer service process for locating mishandled or delayed bags.

The initial airlines will include Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Brussels Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Eurowings, Iberia, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Lufthansa, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, Turkish Airlines, United, Virgin Atlantic, and Vueling. More airlines will be added over time.

For example, here’s what David Kinzelman, United’s Chief Customer Officer, had to say about this development:

“We’ve worked closely with Apple to incorporate Share Item Location into our baggage recovery process and are excited to make this feature available to our customers soon. We know many of our customers are already traveling with AirTag in their checked bags, and this feature will soon make it easier for them to share location information with us safely and securely, helping our customer service agents work more efficiently and giving our customers added peace of mind. We plan to accept Find My item locations in select airports initially, with the goal of introducing the service systemwide in early 2025.”

This is awesome, though I’m curious to see how the implementation actually works out. It’s great airlines will have easy access to this information, but to what extent will they use it to shorten the amount of time that people are separated from their bags?

15+ airlines will initially use this technology

Bottom line

Apple AirTags are about to get much more useful, as they won’t just be valuable for being able to track your bags, but they’ll also be useful for airlines to track your bags, when misplaced or lost. This is entirely voluntary and is built with security in mind, so I’m a huge fan of this.

Apple AirTags are awesome, but for situations where I’ve had misplaced bags, the biggest frustration was that I knew where my bags were, but airlines didn’t, and there was no easy way to share that information.

What do you make of being able to share Apple AirTag locations with airlines?

Conversations (18)
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  1. Mark J Guest

    Being able to narrow down the location is incredibly useful - my dad had his bag, for a flight from Phoenix to London to Paris, show up in HAVANA. THE AIRLINE DOES NOT EVEN FLY THERE. Without the AirTag, it took days to locate.

    On the flip side, this summer, my bag didn't show up at claim for SEA-BWI, but thanks to my AirTag, I could immediately see that it was still in the central...

    Being able to narrow down the location is incredibly useful - my dad had his bag, for a flight from Phoenix to London to Paris, show up in HAVANA. THE AIRLINE DOES NOT EVEN FLY THERE. Without the AirTag, it took days to locate.

    On the flip side, this summer, my bag didn't show up at claim for SEA-BWI, but thanks to my AirTag, I could immediately see that it was still in the central terminal area of SEA, and this allowed us to diagnose and fast-track a solution, and it was on the next flight, arriving 12 hours later.

    I now know more about Baltimore airport outside of security than I ever wanted to.

  2. InsideObserver Guest

    Welp as we learned in b-school, behavior follows incentives.

    If somebody’s bag is not delivered immediately after their flight… delayed disconnected etc etc n/a… they’re gonna be mad, so at that point if they get their bag back in 4 hours or 4 days they’re gonna be equally peeved, and same metrics for the local station.

  3. KingBob Guest

    A few of the larger SkyTeam members on the list but surprisingly not Air France.

  4. Steven Edelman Guest

    Since this is gone to save the airlines a ton of money in claims I suspect that AirTags will become the core technology for tracking luggage and an eventually a lot more.

    I'm currently tracking a package I shipped cross country by USPS. Even though the AirTag is buried in a box which is buried inside a truck which is driving down a highway the Bluetooth connects to somebody's iPhone which relays the locations back...

    Since this is gone to save the airlines a ton of money in claims I suspect that AirTags will become the core technology for tracking luggage and an eventually a lot more.

    I'm currently tracking a package I shipped cross country by USPS. Even though the AirTag is buried in a box which is buried inside a truck which is driving down a highway the Bluetooth connects to somebody's iPhone which relays the locations back to a server at least every few hours.

    The only thing I'd like to see is a larger version with longer battery life, strobe light and better speaker that you'd attach outside the bag like with a luggage tag so when whoever is looking for the bag gets nearby they can hone in on it since the radio based location breaks down when you get close.

  5. AeroB13a Guest

    Being first a Macintosh, then Mac, also an Apple fan for four decades now, the Apple AirTags are in use to locate hats, umbrellas, bags and cases.
    Only used to locate a lost case once with little help from the airport authorities, I welcome the wider adoption of this useful technology.

    1. Eskimo Guest

      You need AirTags for hats?
      You'll need some for marbles too.

      You clearly have lost your marbles on your monthly BA, a SkyTrax world's 13th best airline, LHR to DEN trips.

    2. AeroB13a Guest

      Good story Eskimo, but in what chapter do you shut up?

    3. A Jokester Guest

      Chapter 11, when he files for bankruptcy

    4. AeroB13a Guest

      Apparently A.J. according to some post I read, he has been morally bankrupt for sometime now.

  6. Todd Diamond

    Great for the measly 28% of the world that has an iOS device...not so good for the rest of us.

    1. jetset Diamond

      Well yes. Safe to assume Google will build this at some point as well but ultimately it requires passengers to pay for whatever tracking device in their bags so it will never be 100% coverage. That's not the goal - this is essentially opt in for those who care enough and can (or are willing to) afford it.

    2. Lance Guest

      Except I'd guess (and it's just a guess) that those 28% make up 90% of air travelers, so it's a smart move.

    3. Throwawayname Guest

      Why stop at 90%? You could have guessed they made up 146% of air travellers, it wouldn't have been any less plausible.

  7. Santastico Guest

    Just had an experience with lost luggage this past summer. The airline is in the list above. They lost my two checked bags and their system to track the bags was absolutely useless. After 10 days without any updates from them, while I had the exact location of my bags from my AirTags, I used my connections to get to someone pretty high up in the airline and miraculously next day I had an email...

    Just had an experience with lost luggage this past summer. The airline is in the list above. They lost my two checked bags and their system to track the bags was absolutely useless. After 10 days without any updates from them, while I had the exact location of my bags from my AirTags, I used my connections to get to someone pretty high up in the airline and miraculously next day I had an email from their manager at the airport I checked my bags wanting more details about my case. When I told him I had AirTags and knew the exact location of my bags, he asked me to share with him. Literally 30 minutes later, he got back to me that he had my bags and was putting them on the next flight. Now, here is the problem: he told me that had I not reached out to a top executive at the airline that connected him to me, I would probably never see my bags again since the airline system showed nothing missing even though I had a claim number for my bags. Thus, airlines adopting AirTags is great but if their internal communication system doesn’t work, it will be useless.

  8. pds Guest

    AA conspicuously but unsurprisingly not on the list..... going for lAAst as always!

  9. JPP New Member

    Not surprising to see Delta and UA on this list. Of course American isn't on it.

    What's most suprising is seeing Air New Zealand on this - didn't they ban them last year? How the turn tables...

    1. jetset Diamond

      Lol Lufthansa did the same thing and is also on the list. Honestly it's possible that Apple had reached out to them previously after they made news trying to ban airtags in an effort to educate them and then down the line ended up being the first airlines to sign on because they already had communications channels (or as a means for Apple to get them to reverse their stance).

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jetset Diamond

Lol Lufthansa did the same thing and is also on the list. Honestly it's possible that Apple had reached out to them previously after they made news trying to ban airtags in an effort to educate them and then down the line ended up being the first airlines to sign on because they already had communications channels (or as a means for Apple to get them to reverse their stance).

4
pds Guest

AA conspicuously but unsurprisingly not on the list..... going for lAAst as always!

4
Santastico Guest

Just had an experience with lost luggage this past summer. The airline is in the list above. They lost my two checked bags and their system to track the bags was absolutely useless. After 10 days without any updates from them, while I had the exact location of my bags from my AirTags, I used my connections to get to someone pretty high up in the airline and miraculously next day I had an email from their manager at the airport I checked my bags wanting more details about my case. When I told him I had AirTags and knew the exact location of my bags, he asked me to share with him. Literally 30 minutes later, he got back to me that he had my bags and was putting them on the next flight. Now, here is the problem: he told me that had I not reached out to a top executive at the airline that connected him to me, I would probably never see my bags again since the airline system showed nothing missing even though I had a claim number for my bags. Thus, airlines adopting AirTags is great but if their internal communication system doesn’t work, it will be useless.

3
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