RFID hidden in airline luggage tags

In June 2018, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) passed Resolution 753, requiring its airline members to track every bag from check-in to baggage claim and share that throughout that time with everyone involved in the process. Information is tracked until the customer finally receives the bag. This authorization ensures that more than 4 billion passengers' luggage is tracked each year.

According to SITA's baggage report, in the United States alone, approximately 9,965 people lose luggage every day, with 5.73 bags lost per 1,000 passengers per day. It is reported that 26 million pieces of luggage go missing around the world every year. While an average of 95 percent of lost luggage is recovered within 48 hours of loss, 5 percent of luggage is permanently lost, costing affected airlines $2.1 billion in baggage compensation.

To comply with Resolution 753, airports must monitor baggage collection and delivery at four designated points: handover of passengers to the airline, loading on the aircraft, delivery to the transit area, and return to the passenger. IATA's airline members are now required to document the storage, transport and delivery of customer luggage, sort the luggage manifest upon departure and share this information with other airlines as needed.

"Airports are complex environments, with some having as many as 30 different scanner devices and conveyor belts, so it is difficult to determine whether they have the infrastructure to complete Resolution 753," said the International Air Transport Association (IATA). ) must comply with the regulation by June 2019.

Today, airlines are implementing this technology using ECCO+ from FEIG Electronics, a hybrid barcode/RFID mobile device that enables the conversion from barcode to RFID without costly infrastructure updates. Investing in this hybrid solution is a fraction of the cost of technology transformation. For example, existing hardware can continue to be used and can be upgraded without additional system or software-related costs. The only thing that needs to be done is to replace the regular paper in the printer with smart RFID label paper. You can continue to print luggage tags using an already installed printer. The luggage tags are placed under the ECCO+ barcode/RFID scanner next to the printer, which reads the barcode assigned from the printer and encodes the same information in the RFID Reader according to IATA procedures.

IATA's mandate is one of the most important in the industry, and this case study is based on Delta Air Lines, the first airline dedicated to radically changing baggage tracking systems to state-of-the-art RFID mobile tracking technology.

Delta's industry-first baggage tracking app sets a new standard for more transparent and interactive tracking. The integrated system is based on RFID chips embedded in luggage tags. Passengers can choose to sign up to receive push notifications through Delta's Fly app, which updates the real-time location of passengers' checked bags.

The current estimated cost of transporting lost luggage to a passenger's home, office or hotel is approximately $100 per item. According to CBS News, RFID technology could save airlines $3 billion over the next seven years. Delta's investment will be offset by earnings for its airlines and will also enhance the ability to track passenger bags throughout airport operations. This results in less lost luggage, less theft, fraud and an improved customer experience, with 99.9% luggage tracking accuracy.

Today, ECCO+ is deployed in 58 countries in compliance with IATA regulations to improve global baggage tracking. At the same time, as a manufacturer specializing in the production of RFID chips and reading equipment, the company is actively cooperating with various airlines to provide high-quality RFID chips and reading equipment.