BBC News - Natalie Lisbona
As newspaper headlines and social media posts...calling it "the summer of lost luggage".
The situation has been blamed on staff shortages both at the carriers, the airport security staff that have to scan all the checked-in luggage, and the ground handling firms that are typically employed to get all these suitcases and bags onto the planes and then back to the carousels.
And one insurance firm, Spain's Mapfre, said that the number of passengers reporting missing luggage this summer was 30% higher than in 2019, the last year of normal travel before the pandemic.
Apple has reportedly seen a rise in sales of its AirTag tracking device....These devices send the AirTag's location to the iCloud, allowing the user to go to the Find My app and see it on a map....In other words, you can see exactly where your missing suitcase is, via your smartphone or computer.
Other travellers are attaching trackers that use GPS to their luggage.
SeeTrue is one company that hopes to help airports and airlines get luggage onto planes more efficiently in the first place. The Israeli firm makes software that can do the security scans on check-in luggage much faster than human security staff.
For UK tech firm AirPortr, its approach to tackling the problem is to remove the need for passengers to have to queue up at the airport to check in their luggage before their flight.
Instead passengers can use its app and website to arrange for their luggage to be taken door-to-door.
