Airlines Will Use Apple AirTags To Find Your Lost Luggage

Using Apple AirTags to track luggage is about to become easier. That’s because Apple has introduced a feature that can share the location of an AirTag with airlines.

Up to now, users could put an AirTag in their luggage, track it, and know exactly where it was — but they didn’t have a way to easily let an airline know that info to help them locate a missing suitcase.

Now, a feature called Share Item Location in Apple’s iOS operating system can help recover a misplaced item by sharing the location of an AirTag, or another Find My network accessory, with third parties such as airlines. Apple says this can be done “easily and securely.”

Let’s see how this works.  

Apple’s Share Item Location in Action

Apple said in a statement that Share Item Location is available now in most regions worldwide as part of the public beta of iOS 18.2. This latest iteration of the Apple operating system will soon be available to all users as a free software update for iPhone Xs and later.

To protect privacy and safety, Apple says the shared location of an AirTag will be disabled as soon as a user is reunited with their item. The feature can be disabled by the owner at any time and will automatically expire after 7 days.

Users can generate a Share Item Location link in the Find My app on their iPhone, iPad, or Mac. They can then send the link to a recipient who will be able to view the item’s location on an interactive map using a website.

The website will automatically update when a new location is available and will show a timestamp of the most recent update.

Which Airlines Allow Share Item Location?

Apple says that in the coming months, more than 15 airlines will begin accepting Find My item locations as part of their process for locating mishandled or delayed bags:

• Aer Lingus
• Air Canada
• Air New Zealand
• Austrian Airlines
• British Airways
• Brussels Airlines
• Delta Air Lines
• Eurowings
• Iberia
• KLM
• Lufthansa
• Qantas
• Singapore Airlines
• Swiss
• Turkish Airlines
• United Airlines
• Virgin Atlantic
• Vueling

Among large U.S. airlines, only Delta and United are on the list, but Apple said more airlines will be added over time.

Even better, SITA, a large provider of technology services to the air transport industry, will build support for Share Item Location into WorldTracer. That is the global baggage tracing and matching system used by over 500 airlines and ground handlers at more than 2,800 airports worldwide.

“We’ve worked closely with Apple to incorporate Share Item Location into our baggage recovery process,” said David Kinzelman, United’s chief customer officer. United plans to “accept Find My item locations in select airports initially, with the goal of introducing the service systemwide in early 2025,” Kinzelman said.

According to the Apple statement, when users share a link with a third party, such as an airline, access to that link will be limited to a small number of people (Apple did not specify how many). Perhaps more importantly, recipients will be required to authenticate in order to view the link, either through their Apple account or partner email address.

Final Thoughts

This update from Apple will help solve a problem that flyers using AirTags have encountered. When a bag is misplaced but is being tracked by its owner using AirTags, it’s not always possible or easy to let the airline know the bag’s location.

Thanks to the new Share Item Location feature from Apple, it will be possible to let airlines know where a lost item is, which should make retrieving it easier.

So far, the only U.S. airlines participating in the project are Delta and United, along with several big international airlines. All in all, this is very good news for those flying with checked luggage.