Baggage chaos is getting so bad that flyers are turning to tracking devices
Cory Prenatt’s retirement celebrations didn’t go as planned. Rather than enjoying playing golf with his friends at all of the famous British Open courses around the U.K., the 47year-old ended up traipsing across the country trying to locate his bags after they got lost on the journey over from the U.S.
Prenatt, from Tampa, had attached Apple devices called AirTags to his golf bag and other luggage to track where they were after checking in for his flight. Upon landing in the U.K., he saw his bags were still stuck on the tarmac at the Newark airport, where they remained for two days. His luggage was eventually sent to a warehouse in Edinburgh, but while driving there to pick it up, he noticed that his clubs were already headed to Aberdeen. His AirTag showed they finally ended up in the West Midlands in England. “It’s a mess,” he said. Prenatt’s experience encapsulates the chaos that travelers are facing as airports in Europe, the U.S. and elsewhere are overwhelmed by a surge in passenger traffic — and luggage — because they don’t have enough staff to cope following the mass layoffs that engulfed the aviation industry during the pandemic.
Travelers are turning to AirTags and similar devices from other companies to keep tabs on their belongings. Apple introduced the AirTag in April 2021 with a starting price of $29, while Samsung’s SmarTag costs $29.99.
A British Airways passenger wrote on Twitter this week that her tracker showed her luggage arrived in London Heathrow a day after her flight and had been there for more than 10 days. Last month, a Singapore Airlines Ltd. passenger used his AirTag to locate and collect his bags after they had been stuck in Melbourne Airport for a week, the Daily Mail reported.
Representatives for British Airways couldn’t immediately comment.
Heathrow, one of the world’s busiest airports, on Tuesday imposed a twomonth cap on daily passenger traffic through Sept. 11 because of staff shortages, asking airlines to refrain from selling summer tickets. This week, Delta Air Lines flew an empty widebody aircraft to bring 1,000 lost bags from the airport back to the U.S. Delta also didn’t immediately respond to a request for comments outside normal business hours.
Two months since his trip, and after repeated queries to British Airways and courier companies, Prenatt has yet to receive his golf bag. He says it contained more than $10,000-worth of equipment, including a $4,000 putter that his son gave him as a retirement gift.
He ended up renting some clubs.