23 million lost suitcases – trouble that could have been avoided

It’s understandable that a vacationer is angry when their suitcase doesn’t arrive with them at their vacation destination.
They are not alone in this annoyance. Every year, 23 million passengers wait in vain for their luggage at the baggage carousel after their flight.
An unnecessary problem when you consider that there are technologies that could certainly prevent lost luggage.
And some airports do.
In view of the huge economic damage to the airlines, there should be great motivation to put an end to this perennial passenger complaint.
The industry remains silent about the exact amount of the total costs.
What is clear is that the costs are made up of faulty processes, flight delays and compensation payments.
Certainly a three-digit million amount.
The additional damage to the image of the airlines and airports cannot be quantified.

The prerequisite for seamless real-time baggage tracking is the correct start at check-in.
The classic method is to label the baggage with a baggage tag containing a 10-digit License Plate Number (LPN) as a 1D barcode.
If the same sleeve also contains an RFID transponder, the baggage can be uniquely identified even without visual contact and over long distances.
A major advantage over barcodes is the speed of detection and the storage of additional data on the RFID tag.
For example, additional data can be added flexibly during the journey.
If a passenger misses their connecting flight, the airline sends the new flight data to the suitcase’s RFID transponder in order to route it correctly.
The passenger also receives this updated information.

Each suitcase is scanned several times along the entire transport route, from check-in to loading.
RFID is used at critical points to reliably avoid errors along the entire transportation route.
Strategic reading points are: 1. check-in, 2. loading onto the baggage cart, 3. loading onto the aircraft, 4. unloading the suitcases from the aircraft at the destination.
Each of these stations on the baggage transportation route can be pushed to the passenger’s smartphone as real-time data.

Another aspect is flight safety.
If a passenger booked on a plane whose suitcase has already been loaded does not board, the suitcase must be unloaded again.
A suitcase that is normally only provided with a barcode label can only be found in the aircraft’s cargo hold with a great deal of personnel and manual effort.
This is done under great time pressure.
After all, there should be no departure delays.
RFID readers identify the object being searched for without visual contact and at a range of several meters.
With RTLS tracking technology, localization is even possible to within 25 cm.
An efficient, fast and secure way to find objects.

After check-in, the suitcases make their way along conveyor belts, pass through security checks before being loaded onto luggage trolleys.
The aim is to transport all suitcases to the right machine.
If the luggage trolley is equipped with an RFID antenna, it can detect all RFID-tagged suitcases at once in seconds, report/book them in the system for this station and verify the destination. In the same way as conventional load carriers in logistics, the luggage trolley can be married to all the items to be transported as a digital unit, i.e. the transport vehicle and the individual item contain identical data on flight number, destination, time stamp, etc. In the event of a human error, the ground operations driver would receive a corresponding error message via his vehicle terminal.
A potential error can therefore be corrected before it occurs.
Of course, data on the completeness of all suitcases for this flight is also transmitted so that no piece of baggage is forgotten at the point of departure. Entry and exit gates with Rain RFID antennas and a correspondingly large reading range ensure complete registration.
Before the baggage carts drive onto the apron, they pass through an RFID gate that uses directional recognition to ensure that all suitcases go to the correct vehicle.
In addition, an RFID antenna on the conveyor belt of the machine itself can secure the most important loading point, namely into the machine’s cargo hold.
After loading, the booking is reported to the higher-level system: Suitcase is on this machine.

Even before the passenger reaches the baggage claim area at their destination, a message is pushed to their smartphone informing them that their suitcase will be taken to the baggage carousel in a few minutes.
A confidence-building measure for a positive travel experience. RFID reader stations transmit exact position data on individual items of luggage in real time. A significant improvement in customer service.
Even in the event that a suitcase is lost somewhere, it can be located quickly.
In order to comply with data protection regulations, no personal data is stored via the tags and the suitcase cannot be tracked once it has been issued.
Technically, the RFID tag becomes unusable from this point onwards, even if the passenger does not dispose of it via the baggage tag.

• Positive passenger experience
• Automation relieves ground staff (added value in the event of staff shortages)
• Less complaint stress for employees
• No loss of image for airline and airport
• Cost savings for retrieval and delayed delivery
• Digitalization increases profitability for airline and airport
• Fewer delays due to baggage jams and departure times

• Baggage handling: Parallel use of barcode and RFID on a baggage tag
• Initial capture of barcode and RFID chip by automated reading at check-in
• Seamless tracking within the airport up to the aircraft and at the point of arrival
• Investment protection for existing barcode infrastructure
• Minimal process adaptation for employees

In the aviation sector, RFID makes a significant contribution to quality assurance.
The fields of application are diverse and are currently being used with varying degrees of intensity around the world. RFID is suitable for the following processes:

• Baggage tracking
• Life jackets Inventory on board
• Track&Trace in air freight incl.
  Status detection: air-safe status of a shipment
• Predictive maintenance in aircraft maintenance and repair
• Condition monitoring of aircraft parts

When deciding “RFID yes or no”, it makes no sense to compare the unit costs of an RFID label with those of a barcode sticker on a suitcase banderole.
After all, it’s about the big picture, which RFID completely changes on the process side.
Automation primarily brings economic benefits: Speed in handling, passenger satisfaction and annual cost savings in the millions. It is not only in the USA that more and more airport operators and airlines are turning to RFID because the technology has become more affordable and manual corrections considerably more expensive.
This also has to do with scarce personnel resources.
Existing staff should be deployed efficiently, supported digitally and benefit from automated processes. Project ROI looks very different today than it did a few years ago.
RFID pays off in many respects.