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."

Comments

Now that's the first Good idea for RFID I've seen

[Rhaize]

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

well, what do i trade for what

[rzuwik]

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...

Re:well, what do i trade for what

[Stuart Gibson]

"Wilson, go scan that pile of luggage over there, keep an eye out for ID# 123413241"

Amazing! That's the same RFID as I have on MY luggage.

Goblin

Per airport

[afidel]

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.

Re:Per airport

[glesga_kiss]

Exactly. The ideal solution would be improved baggage tags that had both systems. This works because:

• It works at enabled and non-enabled airports
• It can be taken off by the owner when they get there

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

Re:Per airport

[MadHungarian]

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.

As long as they

[christrs]

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.

BYO RFID!

[BandwidthHog]

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: "!"

Re:Cue "What about my privacy!?!?!" complaints her

[peterprior]

I imagine Tin Foil hats are not allowed on aircraft. Something to do with interfering with radar / comms / etc

Re:Is RFID the new spyware?

[1000101]

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.

Track the bags to its owner

[cOdEgUru]

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?

Re:Track the bags to its owner

[afidel]

Why should there be lines, have "lanes" with RFID readers embedded in the floor with spaces between. The passenger gets an RFID tag to go with his boarding pass, then when you grab your bags you walk through a "lane" with your baggage and boarding pass. If a bag leaves without the accompanying boarding pass token having been read within x seconds then sound an alarm for the baggage personell. This way your personell can just deal with people who lost their RFID tag or flagged incidents that apear to be theft, and lost luggage, even if RFID eliminates 90% of problems (not likely) that still leaves millions of incidents per year.

Privacy not that important

[birdwax2k]

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.

Re:Is RFID the new spyware?

[Sc00ter]

"What is the difference between *INSERT WORD FROM BELOW* and spyware? Both seems to enable companies to track and trace me, where spyware has the advantage that it can be removed by using tools like Spybot or ad-Aware."

- Barcodes
- Credit Cards
- Drivers Licenses
- Grocery discount cards
- License Plates
- Cookies

Good news, sir!

[Anonymous Coward]

"We can positively confirm that your baggage has been sent to South America."

"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."

Re:Is RFID the new spyware?

[Dagny Taggert]

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.

I might as well be the one to post this...

[pHatidic]

In other news, slashdotters spend 25 million on tinfoil.

Re:Cue "What about my privacy!?!?!" complaints her

[AllUsernamesAreGone]

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.)

one REALLY nice use

[johnpaul191]

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......

$25 million is small potatoes

[YouHaveSnail]

$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 real use

[OctaneZ]

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.

This is NOT a privacy issue

[bshroyer]

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.

Didn't I see this on a test somewhere?

[ryanvm]

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?

Depends on the contract

[Prince Vegeta SSJ4]

what happens if this is only touted as a convenience measure only? i.e. we have a system to help track your luggage more effectively, but we *still* take no responsibility.

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.