Delta Implements RFID Bag Tracking Technology

by Michele McDonald / November 18, 2016

Delta’s baggage check at Hartsfield Atlanta Airport. Photo: James Emery

Delta Air Lines became the first carrier to use radio frequency identification technology to track bags. RFID scanners use radio waves to capture data stored on RFID chips embedded in the luggage tag.

Delta already was providing users of its mobile app with information on their bags’ whereabouts—for example, indicating that a bag was scanned planeside at a particular airport—but the real-time information provided by the RFID scanner is much more detailed.

It displays an icon representing the bag on a map to indicate its real-time location, right down to its whereabouts in the airport.

All along the bag’s journey, the Fly Delta app will send alerts to the passenger on the bag’s latest moves. For example, it might say, “Your bag #5006792 has been loaded onto DL0708 to ATL,” to be followed by, “Your bag #5006792 has arrived at carousel 6 in ATL.”

Previously, when a customer missed a connection, agents on the ground manually scanned each bag to find those belonging to the customer and ensure they are retagged for the new flight. With RFID scanners, ground agents have the ability to pinpoint a single bag.

Behind the scenes, 1,500 belt loaders will literally give baggage the green light to enter the hold of a plane. The belt loader’s sensor will flash green when the bag is being loaded on the correct aircraft. If the bag requires additional handling, it will flash red.

IATA, which has made improved bag tracking a priority, said RFID technology could reduce the number of mishandled bags by up to 25% by 2022. Delta’s initial deployment did better than that: a 99% success rate for tracking bags.

Global deployment of the technology could enable the air transport industry to save more than $3 billion over the next seven years, IATA said.