Apple & Air Canada team up to help travellers find lost luggage

Apple and Air Canada are teaming up to help travellers locate and recover misplaced items like luggage.

In a news release Monday, Apple revealed that a new iOS 18.2 feature, called “Share Item Location,” will help users find misplaced items by sharing the location of an AirTag or “Find My” network accessory with third parties – including airlines.

This would allow customers to securely share the location of their suitcase containing AirTags directly with an airline’s baggage service team in the event that bags are delayed or lost.

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

“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 statement. “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.”

How does it work?

Users can generate a Share Item Location link in the Find My app on their iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

Recipients of a link will be able to view a website that shows a location of the item on an interactive map. The website will then automatically update when a new location is available and will show a timestamp of the most recent update.

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.

In addition to Air Canada, Apple has also collaborated with Aer Lingus, 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.

Apple says it has worked directly with its partner airlines to put systems in place to privately and securely accept Share Item Location.

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

It doesn’t appear WestJet has made any changes to its baggage policy. In an email to CTVNews.ca Tuesday, the Calgary-based airline said if a traveller has an AirTag on a bag, and is able to track its location, they are encouraged to provide the information to the baggage team.

Porter Airlines does not plan on immediately implementing the feature. It also isn’t clear if Sunwing or Air Transat will partner with Apple to offer the news service. 

The new feature is available in most regions worldwide as part of the public beta of iOS 18.2 and will soon be available to all users as a free software update for iPhone Xs and later.

Don't miss a single travel story: subscribe to PAX today!  Click here to follow PAX on Facebook.