Slashdot Mirror
Delta Air Invests $25 Million in RFID for Luggage
securitas writes "The New York Times' Barnaby Feder reports on Delta Air Lines' plans to invest $25 million in RFID luggage tracking hardware and software over the next two years. This sounds very similar to the Jacksonville Airport RFID plan. McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas and Hong Kong International Airport have also announced plans to use RFID technology in their operations. More at the Cincinnati Enquirer and the Boston Globe."
This technology is a major improvement for baggage handling. Currently if a passenger disappears between checkin and departure, the plane cannot leave with their luggage on board. This proceedure predates recent security improvements. The baggage people have to dig through all of the bagage on the plane to find and remove that one bag. With a directional RFID detector, this is infinitely better. It will result in less delay and subsequently less cost to the passengers.
RFID is only a privacy concern if it used badly. The same applies to just about anything. A
I am assuming the RFID will contain the same info as the current barcode. The 10 character IATA bag tag. and source/intermediate/destination airport. So baggage will be handled by new and existing systems. This code has a very short life. The data is usually deleted from the airlines database within a couple of days of the bag arriving at it's final destination. A some point the 10 digit IATA code is reused.
Having worked in this industry, reading the current tag is a big pain. If you get an 80% accuracy rate consistantly - you are doing good. Usually he bag goes thru a scanner tunnel, with up to six laser raster scanners attempting to find and read the label. Any errors and the bag goes to a manual station where some low paid & bored baggage handler manually enters the next destinaion info. RFID has got to be better.
It's annoying, but it's damn suspicious. Pan Am flight 107 blew up over Lockerbie due to a bomb placed in luggage which was checked but the person associated with it never made it on. Ever since then they yank lugguage without a passenger.
Sure, most of the time it's probably a missed connection, but it's definitely worth it.
However, to my knowledge, there has never been an actual bomb detected this way.
RFID tags are passive, meaning they only emit radiation when probed by a scanner. So, no interference with the plane electronics.
This comment does not exist.
I know someone who is a law enforcement officer and he was able to get on a plane at a small airport WITH HIS SIDEARM in his carry-on. Granted, he did have all the paperwork, ID, etc he needed to carry it onboard, but he was never asked for it. He made a connecting flight in a major hub, but since he came from another airport he was already through security and made it all the way to his destination without being questioned.
(Yes, this was post-9/11. About 6-mo ago)
I think that any such complaints would be unfounded.
The article makes it clear that Delta is looking into RFID as replacement technology for (or maybe companion technology to) Barcodes for Airline-supplied luggage tracking systems. Every piece of luggage that leaves the check-in desk has a luggage tag on it supplied by the carrier / airport. This is not new. There is no increased erosion of privacy here.
I think it is safe to assume that such tags are as temporary as the current Paper ones that they attach to luggage or boxes.
Now (putting on his tinfoil hat) when the Government mandates that all luggage travelling on planes require special 'government-approved' Travel tags that are pre-verified by some government or police authority, then I'll start getting concerned!!
They've been using barcoded tags for years to sort luggage. This would save the trouble of having to use a reader on a specific target. It's already been pointed out, tear off the tags when you retrieve your bags and you're anonymous again.
I work in a library, and RFID has been trying to make its way in for years. The tags for this type of use have a range of only a few feet. The applications range from inventory by just passing a reader down the rows of items while they're still on the shelf, to security gates that tell you what item(s) someone just walked off with, instead of just sending off an alarm and starting the guessing games, or checking in a half dozen items at a time by placing a stack on a reader.
RFID is not always the beast...
Efficiency.
Part of Delta's problem is that they are inefficient, thus leading to lower profit margins. Investing this money (and in other projects) may help them regain an edge, and remain out of bankrupcy. You have to spend money to make money!