Airlines will now be able to track Airtags to find lost luggage

Lost luggage is something everyone dreads when going on a flight, but Apple is adding a feature that will hopefully rid travelers of that worry.
The feature will allow the users to share their Airtag’s location with a third party such as an airline in order to help find lost luggage.
According to CNN, for every 1,000 airline passengers in 2023, about 6.9 bags were mishandled, and about 5% of those mishandled bags were lost or stolen.
The goal of the new “Share Item Location” feature for Airtags is to make those numbers even smaller.
“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,” according to a release from Apple.
In the coming months, Apple will work with customer service at multiple airlines to integrate the new feature, according to CNN.
The technology will also be added to SITA’s baggage-tracing system, which is used by over 500 airlines and 2,800 airports around the world.
As a part of the Share Item Location feature, in the “Find My” app on Apple devices, users can generate a link to the Air Tag’s location and share that link with a third party, per CNN.
According to Apple, the recipients of the links will gain access to a website displaying an interactive map with the item’s location which will automatically update when a new location becomes available.
This will allow both the owner of the item and the airline to track it while the owner is traveling and find it if lost.
“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,” according to Apple.
The location sharing with the third party will stop as soon as the owner is united with their item, and they can stop it at any time. The tracking will expire automatically after a week.
Here is a list of the 15 airlines Apple is working with to integrate the Share Item Location feature, according to a release from the company.