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Delta will introduce RFID luggage tags this summer

Delta will introduce RFID luggage tags this summer

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No more lost bags... hopefully

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Lost bags may be a thing of the past for passengers flying on Delta later this year. The airline announced plans to introduce RFID luggage tags at 344 airports by the end of August that could essentially bring an end to misplaced and lost luggage for Delta passengers.

Scanners on Delta's conveyor belts can scan the RFID tags attached to your bag and reroute them if they've been sent in the wrong direction, a vast improvement on barcode hand scanning, which has been the industry standard since the '90s. Delta will be the first airline to incorporate RFID tags on a wide scale, but it isn't the first to embrace the technology.

Delta RFID tag

The airline is following in the footsteps of Qantas, which has been implementing optional RFID tags since 2011, and Lufthansa, which partnered with the German luggage manufacturer Rimowa to support its luggage with built-in RFID tags. Thankfully there's no extra work for passengers — the new RFID tags look identical to the current luggage tags, but with the added benefit of improving Delta's luggage accuracy rate from 95 percent to an expected 99.9 percent.