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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."
I heard yesterday that people were now forced to label their cases while travelling using the French Railways, will it be possible that in a near future, they will be given RFIDs when purchasing train tickets ?
What about the Swiss who have the "Abonnement General" ?
Will they have to pre-order these ?
Trolling using another account since 2005.
well that and the cool little keyfobs we use at work. A while ago, I took the chip out of mine, and replanted it into my pen, confuses people when your opening the door with an inkpen. Seems like a good case for "the pen is mightier" quote
Within the arms of tragedy, there is little comfort in being right.
do i let them know where my _oh-so-private_ luggage is?
or do i prefer not having it lost every third flight across the atlantic and taking no responsibility for it?
hmm...
is useless. There needs to be a standard definied AND there has to be a mapping back to the current barcode standard so that luggage can still be handled at airports that haven't yet upgraded.
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
Put the RFID chips in their tags, so I can remove them when the flight is over, why should this be a big deal. They already use barcodes on the tags.
What hilarity could ensue if I packed my own RFID tags? Of course, this would assume that I had the capability to encode them, knew Delta's encoding scheme, and wasn't scared by the thought of losing either my luggage or my personal freedom, but hey, what a hack, right?
DELTITE #1: "Uhh, Dave, the system shows 1,337 bags just came off that DC-9. I'm taking my lunch break now, let me know how that turns out."
DELTITE #2: "!"
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
I imagine Tin Foil hats are not allowed on aircraft. Something to do with interfering with radar / comms / etc
WTF? Airlines MUST track your luggage. I want them to track it. Hell, this is common sense. I don't have any need for spyware to track me so it is completely different.
...oh wait, you mean they can use it to find my luggage when it gets lost or shipped on the wrong flight?
"Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
I, just as anyone else here, is worried over the potential abuse of this system, but there can be improvements as well.
I dont know whether its such an issue here, but outside US, anyone or anything can walk in to a baggage terminal and walk off with someone else's bag with out being stopped. And Usually this happens when the owner of the baggage hasnt gotten to the baggage terminal from the gate. What if Delta has a counter where travellers once they collect their baggage and on their way out, can scan their RFID's, verify they were the rightful owner of the bag and then remove the RFID to go their own merry way? Someone trying to steal the baggage could get flagged since his RFID will still be in place when he attempts to leave..
This might lead to long lines again in the baggage terminal and can cost the airline more, but does this make sense?
Rapid Nirvana
I don't care if they know where my suitcase is, just as long as they don't know there is a dead hooker in it.
remember, what happens in vegas, stays in vegas.
- Barcodes
- Credit Cards
- Drivers Licenses
- Grocery discount cards
- License Plates
- Cookies
Free Mac Mini
"But, I'm in New York and I leave for California tomorrow."
"No, problem. We can give you realtime tracking information as your baggage follows you around the country."
Good point...and, down the road, I'm sure there will be real-world Spybots and Ad-Awares that will scan your clothes and other items looking for RFID items that you can them remove/disable. Remember, there were radar guns and then radar detectors. The marketplace will always respond.
Don't be a looter...and yes, I know that it's spelled with an "A" instead of an "E".
damn annoying.. they have to find the suitcase and offload it.. I'm sure this will make that a whole damn lot faster..
I often wonder what makes a person miss the flight at that point.... it's gotta be sex...
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
In other news, slashdotters spend 25 million on tinfoil.
Nah, that's just a cover story to prevent people from guarding themselves against the intense psychotronic programming they do to air travellers in planes.
(Yes, I'm being silly. They can't do it in planes. That's what check-in lounges are for.)
This won't help you find your bag within that pile, but what it will do is let you know that your bag is indeed in the right pile, without having to dig through and scan each barcode. That, in and of itself, is a very good thing...
Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
But scanning each piece of luggage as it passes on the conveyor belt into the aircraft should let the crew know:
1) That your luggage did indeed pass the doorway and is on the plane.
2) Which quadrant/hold it is stored in.
I say this is a damned good thing, and perfect use for RFID.
liqbase
many years ago (before elevated security) my uncle had a dog in the dog-safe cargo area of an airplane..... in short they lost the dog and it somehow got diverted to a wharehouse. he was pretty much told there was no easy way to find the dog if someone didn't hear it bark by chance. after much yelling they let him search a wharehouse. by the time he found the dog it had been there for over 2 days with no water. in the end the dog recovered 100%, but i am sure this kind of situation would make you think they are not so bad. if the RFID tags are slapped on like the current barcodes, is it a big deal? you rip it off at baggage claim. it's not like your bag get's a permanant tag on it that will track its traveling history.
it has to suck if a passenger ends up getting bumped from a flight last minute and Todd the baggage handler has to find that one passenger's bags. Actually last night my brother's flight was super delayed because some guy in first class threw a hissy fit about something and was ejected from the plane. it was while first class was still boarding so well in advance of the plane being loaded. theys till had to go in and find his luggage and pull it out. that has to be a lot of digging......
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently asked some "what if"-type questions in response to speculation that Delta might file for a Chapter 11 reorg by the end of the year. I thought it kind of interesting when juxtaposed against their $25M proposal for RFID-bagtag thing.
$25 million doesn't seem like all that large an investment, IMO. What does a single plane cost, after all? My guess is that they'll save $25 million over a few years just in terms of saved labor.
It's not "misplaced luggage" that's the problem, the industry is being coy and cute, it's more like stolen luggage, or luggage broken into, then purposely "lost" to hide evidence of the theft. Happens all the time, been a dodge they been underplaying for years now. Over the years in the US, you are more likely to have your luggage stolen and broken into by airport employees than from random people just taking luggage. Here's a recent example of some of the trusted "homeland security personnel" in action.
Before RFID:
Baggage Claim Desk: Your luggage was diverted.
Me: oh no to where?
Baggage Claim Desk: Bulgaria.
After RFID:
Baggage Claim Desk: Your luggage was diverted.
Me: oh no to where?
Baggage Claim Desk: Bulgaria.
You might want to try understanding what people are complaining about before you assume the argument will be made here.
Most of the concerns I've read about the use of RFID tags have been about:
1) Persistence - the tags last as long as you have the item they are attached to and can be difficult to find or remove. Not an issue here. The article states in the very first sentence that the tags are disposable. They are also likely to be mounted in a clearly visible manner.
2) Surreptitious - the tags can be read without the knowledge of the person holding them. Not really an issue here because the tags are attached to baggage that the customer is not going to be carrying with him.
Do try to understand the issues before you discount them as "tinfoil-hat ideas".
People's desire to believe they are right is much stronger than their desire to be right.
As of about ten years ago, air travelers in the US were informed that we were to leave our privacy behind at the security checkpoint. After presenting proof of id, submitting all bags for inspection, and stepping through a detector, the traveler knew that the "authorities" had a record of who they were, where they were going, and what they were (and weren't) carrying.
Face it. If you want privacy in your travel, you have two choices: avoid airports, or develop a very good false identity.
Given that I've left my privacy behind at the security checkpoint, anything that makes it easier for the airlines/airports to handle and transport my bags back to me at my final destination can't be seen as anything but a positive development.
The cure for cancer is coming: Reovirus
Slashdot is to RFID as Greenpeace is to:
A) Puppies
B) Trombones
C) Nuclear power generation
D) Trees
Let's get this straight people - RFID tags are not the devil. They are a technology with the potential to be VERY useful. Do we really have to see EVERY story about EVERY use of RFID tags in the world? Why don't you guys hold off until someone, somewhere actually does something Orwellian with the technology before you spurt the hackneyed, luddite, anti-RFID propaganda?
Oh and just because you disagree doesn't mean I'm trolling. Fuck, that concept is tired too. Where's my coffee?
In other words, they still lose your luggage, but somtimes find it. Sorry sir your luggage was rerouted to Antarctica, we know where it is, but a polar bear is hoarding all of the luggage from light 456 at this moment. ***I know, there are no polar bears in antarctica, but you get the picture.
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!!
This is exactly the future I can see by using RFID.
Scanners on the entrances/exits of all doorways and belts would allow your individual bag to be tracked along is journey - all without having to individually pick up and orient the item so that the barcode scanner can see.
Its the same thinking that supermarkets are wanting, but when we move into items which go home with us, the privacy issues increase.
I have no problem in using the right tool for the job, and can only see practical benefits with using them in the baggage tracking/handling environment.
Your idea of an automated router will probably get the handlers union up in arms, and cause strikes galore, there is always tension when moving to a more advanced automated system.
The handlers will still be required, but their role would change.
liqbase
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...