Virgin Australia is in line to become the first airline in the country to offer baggage tracking for passengers, in order to better handle to misplacement of luggage.
The service is planned to trial on Brisbane-Sydney flight with passengers having to upload the Virgin Australia app to keep track of checked bags.
This app will then send a notification that the airline had successfully received their luggage after check-in, and another once the baggage arrives at the destination.
An airline spokesman has said, “For 23 years, Virgin Australia has consistently innovated and the introduction of bag tracking capabilities is another instalment of our award-winning product offering.”
By the middle of the year, bag tracking capabilities will be expected as a reality on all flights between Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, and the Gold Coast, regional services following afterwards.
Qantas have also been looking at introducing “further baggage initiatives in the current months,” however, a spokeswoman noted mishandled luggage rates were lower now than before COVID-19.
Virgin have introduced this after Air New Zealand expanded their baggage tracking service to international flights, allowing passengers to confirm their luggage made the trip.
It started with domestic travelers in April, and now they are ready to test the feature on the 5% of app users on services to Australia and the Pacific Islands.
An airline spokeswoman has said the tracking worked by retrieving the last recorded scan point of the paper tag that becomes attached during check-in and drop off.
“All baggage is scanned at multiple points throughout the journey as it is processed by back-of-house teams and baggage handlers,” she said.
Chief digital officer Nikhil Ravishankar has mentioned the baggage tracking showed Air New Zealand’s commitment to their customers.
“Updates to our app last year mean we are now able to be more adaptable when it comes to creating and adding digital solutions that solve pain points for customers.”
“Customers can track the journey of their bag and receive guidance on what to do if their bag has taken a detour. In an upcoming release, customers will also be able to report and monitor mishandled baggage via the app.”
This is not a new idea, however, as US carrier Delta introduced this measure in 2011. Since, United and American Airlines have following, however it is less common outside the US.
Mr Ravishankar believes baggage tracking has helped put information directly into the hands of travelers, and relieved pressure on airline teams.
The number of lost and mishandled bags increased dramatically last year, as travel came at a much faster rate than airline workers were able to handle.
Qantas’ mishandled baggage rate rose from 4/1000 to 12/1000 and caused many travelers to invest in “air tags” to keep track of their luggage.
