AirTags tell passengers where their bags are

For almost two decades, passengers have increasingly taken on tasks previously handled by airline and airport staff, from check-in and bag tagging to boarding.

This trend extends to lost luggage: passengers with Apple iPhones, iPads, and Macs can take the lead in tracking their missing bags by using Apple’s AirTags and Find My app.

About 1% of bags are lost/misplaced/delayed. But the United States alone sees 2.6 million passengers daily, meaning roughly 26,000 people lose their bags every day.

But, pop an AirTag in the bag and it can tell the owner where the bag is!

Fortunately, a new feature now available on iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS 15.2 on Mac, lets users generate a Share Item Location link from within the Find My app.

The passenger can share that link with airline passenger service, who in turn can help use that information to track down the lost item.

Passengers can send that location to airline systems to help them recover the bag.

So by putting an AirTag in their checked bags, passengers can provide location-tracking information through their airline’s app.

Air Canada, Delta, and United were the first airlines that allowed passengers to tell them where the missing bag was via Share Item Location.

How it works

An AirTag is a small tracking device that works with Apple’s Find My network to help people locate an item.

**The Apple AirTag is quite small [Image: Apple}**

When in “Lost Mode,” it sends out a secure Bluetooth signal detectable by nearby iPhones, iPads, and Macs – if they are on the Find My network.

The devices then send the location of the AirTag to iCloud, which means owners can see their tracker on a map. From the map, they see a timestamp that confirms when the last sighting was.

The AirTag is designed to last at least one year before needing a new battery – surely long enough for most airlines to recover a missing bag.

New Apple feature: Share Item Location

If a bag goes missing, a new feature in Apple’s Find My network allows passengers to share the location of an attached AirTag with the airline.

Passengers can generate a Share Item Location link in the Find My app on their iPhone, iPad, or Mac and send it to the airline.

Delta passengers insert the link into the “Share Find My Item Location” field in the delayed bag form on the Fly Delta app.

**Delta passengers insert the link in the delayed bag form on the Delta app [Image: Delta]**

United passengers can do this when filling in the Baggage Report on United’s app.

The airline can view a website that shows a location of the item on an interactive map. The website will automatically update when a new location is available and will show a timestamp of the most recent update.

The shared location will be disabled as soon as a passenger is reunited with their bag, can be stopped by the passenger at any time, and will automatically expire after seven days.