United Airlines is one of the first major airlines to adopt one of Apple’s new features, integrating the AirTag Share Item Location feature.

Apple announced a new iOS 18.2 feature in November, one that would allow uses to share the location of an AirTag via a secure link. The implications and potential applications of the feature are myriad, with tracking lost luggage being one of the prime options.

The company described the feature in a November press release.

Apple has introduced Share Item Location, a new iOS feature that helps users locate and recover misplaced items by easily and securely sharing the location of an AirTag or Find My network accessory with third parties such as airlines. Share Item Location is available now in most regions worldwide as part of the public beta of iOS 18.2, which will soon be available to all users as a free software update for iPhone Xs and later. Find My is built with privacy and safety at its core. The shared location will be disabled as soon as a user is reunited with their item, can be stopped by the owner at any time, and will automatically expire after seven days.

“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. “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.”

United Integrates the Feature

Barely a month later, United has become one of the first airlines to adopt the new feature, counting on it to help drive improved customer service.

United today announces the integration of Apple’s new Share Item Location feature for AirTag into its mobile app, a move that’s expected to drive a much-improved customer service experience for the fewer than 1% of customers whose bags arrive on a later flight.

The airline says the feature will help it better serve customers in those rare instances where things don’t go as planned.

While more than 99% of customer bags flew with – or even beat – their owner to their destination so far this year, this new digital innovation is the latest example of United’s infrastructure, training and technology investments geared towards making travel easier and bag handling more seamless, especially when plans don’t go as expected.

“For years, every customer has been able to track the journey of their bag through the United app as it is scanned on and off the plane, and previously, they didn’t have a way to directly share their AirTag information with our baggage team,” said David Kinzelman, United’s Chief Customer Officer. “Now, Apple’s new Share Item Location feature will help customers travel with even more confidence, knowing they have another way to access to their bag’s precise location with AirTag or their Find My accessory of choice. They can easily and securely share that with us in the United app, and our team can use the location information to find the bag and get it reunited with its owner much more quickly.”

United outlined how the feature will work.

• In the event a bag doesn’t arrive to its final destination, customers can file a delayed baggage report in the United app, and those who travel with an AirTag or Find My network accessory can additionally now create a Share Item Location link in the Find My app on their iPhone, iPad, or Mac, and add that to the delayed baggage report in the United app.
• Once the report has been submitted, authorized United customer service agents will receive the Share Item Location link and be able to view the location of the item on an interactive map. The map will automatically update when a new location is available and show a timestamp of the most recent update.
• United will use the shared location to more quickly find delayed bags and reunite them with customers.
• For customers’ privacy and security, the shared location will be disabled as soon as a customer is reunited with their bag, can be stopped by the customer at any time, and will automatically expire after seven days.

It’s good to see United adopting such a useful feature. Hopefully other airlines will follow suit quickly.