Headline October 07, 2016/ ''' CHIP 'O' CHUM '''

''' CHIP 'O' CHUM '''

*RIDES ON TAP* :  IT NOW SEEMS  just so sure,  that Chip technology is the way to go to help keep track of  *travelers'  luggage*.

Statistics show that it is increasingly unlikely that bags will ever go astray. And O'dear,  that would be some relief for every traveler in the world.

THE DEADLINE THEN IS for the summer of 2018 when all 265 member airlines should be able to track and fully trace bags-

Not only on their own flights, but also when passengers connect to other carriers.

''It won't matter what technology they chose,'' said Nick Carren, an executive with the association, as long as bags can be tracked once they leave the traveler's hands and traced if they are missing.

Airline bag tracking is difficult for a number of reasons. Updating to the latest technology requires infrastructure changes that can be expensive and disruptive.

And because most airports leave it to each airline to handle its own bag-checking system, the technology and procedure vary widely.

*McCarran International Airport in  Las Vegas  is an exception, having decided as part of its renovation in 2015  to become fully capable of incorporating radio chips into the bag checking and sorting systems, which the airport runs*.  

The radio chips embedded in the paper tags being used in Las Vegas ensure that checked suitcases move more quickly and accurately through the system and increase the likelihood that bags make it to on to the right airplanes.

''R.F.I.D runs for us day in and day out very accurately   -99.5% accuracy,'' said Samuel G.Ingalls, the airport's assistant director of information systems. The airport has handled  160 million  chip-tagged bags in the last 10 years.

*There are many ways airlines and airports can use radio chips*. 

In 2010, when Qantas  became one of the first airlines to start using the technology, it sold a hard plastic reusable baggage tags for $60.

A spokesman said  1.5 million tags were in circulation.

Customers  ''like the speed of checking in and the sense of control and recognition that comes with having their own permanent tag,'' said Phil Capps, Qantas's head of product and service development.

Delta's  single-use tags, like the ones in at McCarran, are much cheaper, at just pennies apiece.

Accurate bag handling can save an airline the size of  Delta lot of money. Last year, it  mishandled about  276,000  of the  130 million passenger bags it transported, according to statistics that it reported to the Department of Transportation.

While that misfire rate   -0.23 percent  -as well below the international average of  0.65%  for mishandled bags, it still ads up to a lot of unhappy customers.

Even the passenger's bad experience can become a big embarrassment for an airline,  given the effect of social media. 

During the day Ms. Rasheem was separated from her bag, which contained notes for a presentation she was to give,  she tweeted her frustration-  not just to Southwest but also to her   1,500  followers on Twitter.

Ms. Rasheem's notes and clothes arrived before her conference began, with no explanation about what had happened.

Southwest said it was still exploring what  bag-handling options  it will use to meet the new target at the  International Air Transport Association.   

While the airlines work toward a tracking standard, various vendors have rushed in with disparate versions of bags, tags and apps  =some working with partnership.

Rimowa, a German maker of luxe luggage, has an e-ink bar code and radio chip permanently affixed to the suitcase it sells. Passengers using the bags on Lufthansa flights can speed through check-in.

''Whenever you come with such a bag already tagged, you can place it on the big drop belt and it will be checked automatically,'' said Bjorn Becker a senior Director at Lufthansa who oversees ground and digital services.''

Whatever approach the airlines take, Mr. Careen of the air  transport association echoes the sentiments of travelers like Ms. Rasheem when he says fliers should ''know at all times where their bag is.''

With respectful dedication to the Students, Professors and Teachers of engineering and Technology. See Ya all on !WOW!  -the World Students Society and Twitter-!E-WOW!  -the Ecosystem 2011:

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Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless