Aviation

Passenger with GPS in suitcase watches all the trouble of the airline that lost it

Passenger with GPS in suitcase watches all the trouble of the airline that lost it

This is a story that demonstrates what the future of lost luggage will look like in a world where everything can be traced. It involves passenger Elliot Sharod, who was just married back from South Africa and was unlucky enough to discover that his luggage had been lost by the Irish airline Aer Lingus.

NEWLY MARRIED

It was supposed to be a smooth ride home to Surrey, UK, but expectations were shattered at the time of baggage claim at Dublin airport. The three suitcases traveled with him and his wife on a complex route that started in Johannesburg and ended in the Irish capital, with two plane changes, one in Abu Dhabi and the other in Frankfurt. 

They chose this because it is the cheapest route and the reservation was made with the Emirati airline Etihad, which has a codeshare agreement with Aer Lingus. Anticipating that the long and complex journey home could bring problems, Sharod bought three Airtags , Apple products that issue tracking alerts via Bluetooth, and placed one in each suitcase.

Relieved at this precaution, when he confirmed that the luggage had not arrived in Dublin, he concluded that there was no real reason to fuss, filled out the company’s forms, and began monitoring where his belongings passed. It was then that things started to get out of control.

MONITORING

After some time of screening the bags, the couple received two of the volumes at their home, with a third missing . Helen’s purse was still missing, and it included her wedding cards, thank you notes, and other irreplaceable personal items.

The young man complained to the airline and Eagle Avation, a company contracted to return the bags to the couple, but got no response from either side. Meanwhile, Apple’s Airtags have not stopped sending data, showing that Helen’s bag was in central London, first in a church and then in a massage parlor.

After four days of delivering the suitcase to the wrong address, it changed twice and remained at its second location. The couple believes it was stolen and reported it to the police.

OUTCOME

Disturbed by the process, several emails, calls and DMs were sent to resolve the issue, and nothing. It was then that the boy decided to expose the case through a series of tweets, which gained enormous repercussion (and illustrate this publication).

The tweets established the timeline of what took place and where the bags were currently, at least according to Airtags. Finally, the suitcase finally delivered.

He said that he would never go to the place where the Airtags were pointing, not only because it was too far from his house, but because of the risk of not knowing what he would find there, considering that the suitcase could have been stolen.

The case illustrates well what the future of baggage tracking could be and, thus, greatly reduce the amount of lost luggage, which reaches millions of bags per year worldwide.

Comentários

Share.
Add A Comment

Comments are closed.