Travelers have plenty of frustrations at the airport. Misplaced luggage is high among those. The aggravation for passengers is understandable; people going on a business trip or vacation don’t want to be without their luggage. This might require them to go pick up changes of clothing, toiletries and more. This leads to dissatisfaction among passengers.

However, airports also share in the frustration. First, the airlines have to locate the lug-gage, and then they have to bring it to either the hotel or the traveler’s home. This could cost hundreds of dollars in time and expenses.

To reduce that, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has been interested in how RFID technology could reduce the number of bags being misplaced. RFID has some key advantages over barcodes, as RFID can be read at a distance by readers, and does not require line-of-sight to be read.

As a result, in 2019, the iata moved forward with a recommendation for RFID. Since then, we have had the COVID-19 pandemic, and air travel shrank. Now that airports are getting busy again, RFID is back on the agenda.

IATA Recommendations for RFID

On June 2, 2019, the IATA unanimously approved a resolution calling for global deploy-ment of RFID inlays for baggage tracking. Here is part of the IATA’s press release:

“In 2018, less than 0.6% of the estimated 4.3 billion bags carried by airlines were mis-handled, according to the latest figures from SITA. Since 2007 baggage mishandling has fallen by 70% and today 99.9% of mishandled bags are reunited with their owners with-in two days.

“RFID read rates are 99.98% accurate which is significantly better than that of bar codes. And modern messaging standards will enable airlines to proactively take action when there is potential for mishandling. Combined, RFID and modern messaging standards, should reduce the mishandling rate by 25%.”

Urban Soderberg, business development manager, Avery Dennison Smartrac, reported that the IATA Board of Governors have committed to support the implementation of RFID.

“This has resulted in the related resolutions and recommended practices that are manda-tory when deploying RFID,” Soderberg added. “With IATA's Resolution 753 now in effect, airlines are mandated to implement baggage tracking. IATA recommends the use of the RFID technology, which is much more effective than the bar code technology mostly in use currently.”

“The IATA resolution 753, which recommends the use of RAIN RFID tags for baggage tag -ging, has been in effect since it was passed at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) 75th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in 2019,” said Jill West, VP, strategic communications for Impinj, whose tags chips, reader chips and readers are used in baggage tagging solutions around the world.

“In 2019, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) 75th Annual General Meet-ing (AGM) unanimously resolved to support the global deployment of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for baggage tracking,” Karin Fabri, VP marketing for Tageos, added. “In a nutshell, IATA committed airlines to transition to bar-coded bag tags with RFID inlays, and use RFID data alerts to enact processes with airports and ground handlers that prevent potential mishandlings. To the best of our knowledge as a supplier, these decisions were never revoked. Just the implementation was slowed down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Advantages of RFID Tags for Luggage

As mentioned above, RFID can help airlines and airports reduce the number of misplaced bags. RFID allows employees to pinpoint a single bag, and airlines offer ways for travelers to track their bags throughout the baggage process. West said that the IATA chose RAIN RFID due to its reliability, maturity, widespread availability and cost.

“RAIN RFID read rates have an accuracy rate of 99-100% which is critical to helping the industry reach its target of 100% bag tracking,” West added. “With RAIN RFID, luggage can be scanned in bulk, hands-free, from a distance of up to 30 feet. And RAIN RFID supports real-time tracking. Delta Airlines has utilized that functionality in their mobile app, which allows travelers to see where their bag is from check-in to the arrivals carousel.

“Traditional barcode luggage tags must be scanned individually and up close,” West not-ed. “RAIN RFID solutions increase speed and accuracy, allowing for luggage to be processed more quickly with fewer errors.”

“RFID enables automatic, accurate (by nearly 100%) real-time tracking at a sufficient read range without requiring line of sight - with all the subsequent benefits. Another benefit is that a reading infrastructure doesn’t require any cleaning or costly maintenance once installed,” Soderberg said.

Soderberg pointed out that IATA members committed to resolution 753 (June 2018) where tracking of bags is defined at key areas, e.g. at baggage load, off-load and claim. RFID is the most cost efficient and accurate enabling technology for airlines to meet this resolution.

“Mishandled bags cost the industry $2.5 billion (pre-pandemic) as a result of insufficient tracking and visibility,” Soderberg added. “The cost comes from additional transports such as delivering missed bags to passengers, which has a negative impact on the environment. RFID could enable the aviation industry to become more sustainable.” 

“It is generally acknowledged that, compared to barcodes, RFID is the technically superior solution for tracking masses of items of almost any kind,” said Fabri. “The main advantages of RFID for baggage tracking comprise superior read-range of up to 10m / 33 ft; no line-of-sight required; and bulk-reading capability (faster scanning process).”

Fabri added that translates into applicational benefits, such as higher process efficien-cy/system throughput, less manual labor, overall reduced cost (definitely in mid-/long-term), and less mishandled baggage and better passenger experience.

RFID Implementation at Airports

So far, RFID usage at airports isn’t widespread yet. In some cases, airlines are push-ing the issue, with Delta among the leaders.

“Several major international airports have adopted RAIN RFID, including Newark In-ternational, McCarran International, Brussels International, Hong Kong International, and, as of June 2021, 27 airports in China have fully adopted RAIN RFID,” said West. 

“RAIN RFID usage within airlines and airports has proven valuable,” added West. “IATA reported initial deployments had a 25% decrease in mishandled baggage. Delta Airlines reported improved baggage loading rates by 10%, a 13% decrease in bag-gage mishandling, and a 21% reduction in baggage handling injuries.”

“An Internet search shows several airports using RFID solutions for baggage tracking. Tageos has reference customers from the aviation industry, including airports. At least one major airport opted for Tageos’ new EOS-350 M700 inlays,” said Fabri.

“In addition to first deployments between 2006 and 2008 in Hong Kong, Las Vegas, Mal-pensa, Doha and other places, Delta Airlines implemented RFID covering over 340 stations worldwide, starting in 2016, with results exceeding the initial business case and expectations,” said Soderberg.

Growth in Use of RFID

RFID industry executives believe that the pandemic set RFID back, but it will take some time to get to implementation.

“We expect it will take more time for airports and airlines to fully implement RAIN RFID, as the airline industry recovers from the effects of the pandemic,” said West. “With the adoption of IATA resolution 753, airports were provided guidance and best practices for using RAIN RFID for baggage handling and we have seen excellent adoption progress at airports in China.

“As more airlines and airports implement RAIN RFID, a stronger ecosystem will be in place that decreases the likelihood of baggage being mishandled, providing a better travel ex-perience and increasing customer confidence and delight in their travel experience,” West observed.

“Global RFID standards are in place and the technology has proven its capabilities,” Soderberg noted. “There is already a shortage of manpower for baggage handling ‘post pandemic’ and strong signs baggage will return in large volumes. Airports will be in a po-sition where automation and reduced manual exception handling / mishandling of bags will be crucial. Airports just need to make the decision now and invest in mature technol-ogy to become more efficient and sustainable.”

“While deployment rates slowed down during the COVID-19 pandemic due to travel reductions, adoption has begun again as more travelers return to airports,” Fabri observed. “Obviously, airports and airlines are hence getting in better shape to handle the financial investment in RFID-based baggage tracking solutions. We definitely notice a growing demand but are not in a position to scrutinize our customers’ situation or motivation, especially as it is usually the system integrators who talk to airports and airlines.”

With that said, the key challenges have been overcome; West saif that seeing the results that can be achieved by using RAIN RFID for baggage tagging were clearly established by early adopters over five years ago.

“As with creating a new standard across any industry, agreement and commitment was one of the biggest challenges,” West added. “The unanimous agreement to IATA resolution 753 was a significant step in overcoming the challenge of the global aviation industry adopting RFID. With that agreement, we will ultimately see an improved traveler experience globally as baggage mishandling and losses are significantly decreased.”

“The benefits of RFID in baggage tracking are obvious,” Fabri said. “Technically feasible solutions have been available for years  – in fact, their availability was the basis for IATA’s decision. If there were or are challenges or even obstacles to their introduction, they are economic in nature and cannot be influenced by us.”

“I see three main aspects - economy of scale, technical advancement and an IATA decision to implement RFID,” Soderberg noted. “The technology has already been deployed in other industries successfully, such as retail or logistics, while efficiency and performance has been improved significantly since its first deployments.

“In aviation, RFID can provide a seamless path towards a more sustainable baggage oper-ation,” Soderberg added. “The deployment can be done in both existing disposable bar-code bag tags, electronic bag tags (barcode in display), and permanent bag tags when all systems have RFID reading capability.

“The industry needed to agree on RFID as key technology, so it was important the IATA Board of governors announced their decision in June 2018 to implement RFID by 2020,” Soderberg continued. “However, the adoption still is behind schedule due to the impact of the pandemic on global travel.”