Major airlines will start using Apple to find your lost luggage

Major airlines will start using Apple to find your lost luggage

At least 15 major airlines will implement a new 'Share Item Location' feature for travelers who use Apple AirTags to find their lost luggage.

Apple AirTags are becoming a must-have item for anyone with habits of misplacing items like keys or wallets on a regular basis, as well as those worrying about losing their luggage during their travels.

To set up the AirTag, owners must hold the product near their iPhone or iPad, connect it to the electronic, name the AirTag and register it to an Apple account.

While you can use AirTags privately to track luggage, airline baggage services had yet to set up internal ways to link up to the tag's tracking information... until now.

Some of the airlines that have already started using this process include Delta Airlines, United Airlines, British Airways, Lufthansa, Qantas and Virgin Atlantic.

'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,' David Kinzelman, United's chief customer officer, told CBS News this month.

He added that the feature is only available with United in select airports, but there are plans to introduce 'the service systemwide in early 2025.'

Delta's hope with the new 'Share Item Location' feature is that it will give its employees 'extra visibility to reunite those items with their owners.'

Erik Snell, Delta Air Lines’ senior vice president of Airport Customer Service, Cargo Operations, Ground Support Equipment, and Global Clean, explained the feature would provide their team with 'extra visibility to reunite those items with their owners.'

'This cutting-edge solution, developed by Apple and in partnership with Delta Air Lines, will enable us to locate items more efficiently and effectively,' Snell said.

Other airlines that will be implementing this feature include Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Austrian Airlines, and Turkish Airlines, and Vueling.

AirTag owners can use the feature share the location of their Apple product through secure links with someone else.

The secure links AirTag owners create are meant to ensure user privacy, and the shared item will immediately be disabled once the luggage owner is reunited with their belongings..

'Access to each link will be limited to a small number of people, and recipients will be required to authenticate in order to view the link through either their Apple Account or partner email address,' Apple said in a news release.

Links that do not get disabled will automatically expire after seven days.

The 'Share Item Location' feature is available now in most regions worldwide as part of the public beta of iOS 18.2, which will soon be available to all users for iPhone Xs and later through a software update.

Apple users who own AirTags can use them through the Find My app.

'Find My is an essential tool for users around the world to keep track of and find their belongings,' said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Services, in a news release.

'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.'