Travelers have been tossing Apple AirTags into their checked bags for years – a high-tech solution to keep tabs on luggage in case an airline loses track of it. But Apple and Delta are apparently teaming up to take that even further.
In an exclusive story, Skift reports that Apple and Delta have developed a new backend tool integrating AirTag location data directly within Delta's baggage-tracking systems. For travelers, this could mean fewer bags go missing … and definitely far faster recovery when they do.
Delta isn't ready to discuss this upcoming functionality just yet. The airline confirmed that while travelers have been able to share AirTag location information with Delta since last December, the new tool is not yet live. Delta says the integration will be added to its internal agent tools “later this year” and will roll out systemwide once available.
Here's a look at what's ahead.
A Smarter, Faster Way to Find Lost Bags
Delta's work with Apple would build on an Apple feature that started helping out travelers and airline last year.
Apple’s “Share Item Location” feature officially launched late last year, allowing travelers to share their AirTag's location data directly with more than a dozen different airlines. But it was still a fairly clunky (and often slow) process: Agents would have to open the link in a browser, interpret the map themselves, and pass that information along internally.
This new Apple and Delta integration would change that.
Once a traveler shares the AirTag link with Delta, those location updates would feed straight into Delta’s internal baggage systems – the same tools employees already use to trace bags throughout their journey. That means fewer manual steps, more accurate data, and faster decisions when a bag goes missing.
The new partnership will give Delta “more granular information that’s going to tell us where a bag is, so we can recover quickly,” Ramsey Hammad, Delta’s managing director of airport customer service strategy, told Skift.
Combined with the direct access to location data once it's shared by the traveler – instead of sharing screenshots or links – it should eliminate a lot of guesswork and help Delta agents reunite customers with their bags faster.
Apple's Luggage Data Goes Beyond Delta
While Delta played a key role in designing and testing the new baggage system, Apple has opened the tool to a much wider roster of partners.
Skift reports that Apple now counts 50 travel companies involved with Share Item Location, including 36 airlines that are already live and another 14 preparing to switch it on soon. Nearly every major global carrier is on board: American, United, Air France-KLM, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Qantas, Air Canada, Virgin Atlantic, and more.
What's more, Apple and Delta's integration with location data isn't proprietary – it could easily be adopted by dozens of other carriers.
Even in its basic form, it could be a huge help. SITA, a major airline technology provider and early Apple partner, told Skift that early adopters of “Share Item Location” are already seeing a 26% reduction in delays retrieving bags – plus, a 90% reduction in “truly lost” luggage.
What Delta Flyers Should Expect Next
Delta already leads the U.S. airline industry in baggage performance and offers a 20-minute baggage guarantee on domestic flights, awarding 2,500 SkyMiles if checked bags take longer than 20 minutes to reach the carousel. This enhanced tech partnership with Apple takes things to another level.
Delta isn't saying much (yet) about what travelers should expect, how to use this new feature, or how widespread it may be.
For now, travelers' role hasn’t changed: If your checked bag goes missing, you’ll still need to manually share your AirTag’s location by opening the “Find My” app, navigating to the Items tab, selecting your AirTag, tapping Share Item Location, and sending that link to Delta.
Delta says there’s no built-in AirTag integration in the Fly Delta app yet. Instead, travelers still need to generate a Share Item Location link in the Find My app and paste it into Delta’s delayed bag form or send it through the app’s messaging feature.
Bottom Line
Apple’s presence in travel continues to grow – from digital IDs and hotel keys in Apple Wallet to now integrating with airlines to help track down passengers' baggage.
Delta and Apple built on AirTags' handy “Share Item Location” to make it even more powerful. Delta isn't saying much about how this will work for travelers, but it may only be the first of many carriers to do so.
