Apple and Air Canada Join Forces to End Lost Luggage Nightmares

Apple’s new Find My feature, ‘Share Item Location’, is rolling out in beta with iOS 18.2, letting iPhone users share the location of their AirTags or Find My accessories with other people through a secure link.

This tool could be a game changer for those who misplace items, as it’ll soon allow users to send AirTag locations directly to airline staff to help track down lost baggage. We’ve heard horror stories even with AirTag tracking and Canadian airlines and this solution looks to change that.

To share, iPhone users can create a link in the Find My app, which others can then open to see the location of the lost item on a map. Once the item is found, the shared location link automatically expires or can be deactivated by the owner at any time, giving users control over their privacy.

Apple designed the feature so that the location sharing expires after seven days if the item isn’t retrieved.

This new update is aimed at travelers who use AirTags to keep tabs on checked baggage. More than 15 major airlines, including Air Canada, Delta, and British Airways, plan to integrate the feature to make it easier for customers to report lost items to airline staff. These airlines will start supporting the feature in select airports, with hopes for a broader rollout in early 2025. Hopefully WestJet will support this soon as well.

Apple’s privacy setup for Find My ensures that item locations are encrypted and visible only to the device owner. The expanded Find My network uses Bluetooth from millions of Apple devices to help locate lost items while keeping data secure.

Here are all the airlines set to support this new Find My sharing feature, with more added over time, according to Apple:

• Aer Lingus
• Air Canada
• Air New Zealand
• Austrian Airlines
• British Airways
• Brussels Airlines
• Qantas
• Delta Air Lines
• Eurowing
• Iberia
• Lufthansa
• Singapore Airlines
• Swiss International Air Lines
• Turkish Airlines
• United
• KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
• Virgin Atlantic
• Vueling

“Find My is an essential tool for users around the world to keep track of and find their belongings,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Services, in a statement on Monday.

“The Find My network and AirTag have proven to be a powerful combination for users while traveling, providing invaluable location information when bags have been misplaced or mishandled. With Share Item Location, we’re excited to give users a new way to easily share this information directly with third parties like airlines, all while protecting their privacy,” added Cue.

Apple says access to each link shared will only be available to a handful of people, and these users will be required to authenticate in order to view the link through either their Apple Account or partner email address.