News

Delta Air to test baggage-tracking technology in fall

June 22, 2003

ATLANTA -- Delta Air Lines will begin tests of Radio Frequency Identification technology this fall to better track passenger baggage and air-cargo shipments.

According to an Associated Press article, the technology, known as RFID, uses small computer chips to send and receive information as radio signals.

Delta also has announced plans to install more than 440 remote phone terminals for customers to use for complex ticketing changes and transactions.

The company is also in the process of redesigning 81 of its airport locations, with hundreds of additional self-service kiosks this year.

Delta said that RFID chips will be embedded in the bag tags of passengers traveling from selected flights from Jacksonville, Fla., to its Atlanta hub.

The 30-day test, which will be in coordination with the Transportation Security Administration, will use more than 40,000 disposable 900MHz tags provided by Matrics of Columbia, Md., and SCS Corporation of San Diego, Calif., the article said.

Other partners include FKI Logistex, Moore Wallace Inc. and the Jacksonville Airport Authority.

Delta said the move was part of its effort to better serve customers.

"By using RFID, we can further improve our baggage handling, provide real-time baggage updates, and provide better, faster and friendlier service," a company spokesperson said in a release.

RFID adoption is growing, according to the article. Last week, the Associated Press reported that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is requiring its top 100 suppliers to use RFID tags on their shipments by early 2005.

Atlanta-based Delta has already made a number of efforts to use technology to reduce customer check-in times this year.