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Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage

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Re: Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage

#301

Post by crystaln »

nostrademons wrote: post #76

Note that the reason for airport mode is a courtesy to cell-phone carriers. It's not any air safety issue. Rather, 300-500 cell phones all trying to contact the next cell tower, multiple times per minute, would wreak havoc on cell service. https://www.inverse.com/article/51015-cell-phone-use-on-airp... At one point, when both cell phones and laptops were new, there was perhaps a risk to the airplane's electronics. Mo…

The term airplane mode will persist as an anachronism forever. Some day we will have to explain to our grandchildren why disabling networks has anything to do with airplanes.

Re: Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage

#302

Post by HWR_14 »

kylehotchkiss wrote: post #151

Interestingly, they're not an issue in carry on bags. Which sit about 3 feet higher than a checked bag inside of an airplane.

They also sit at a much higher pressure. The concern is that the much lower air pressure can cause stress on lithium batteries in the cargo hold, leading to bulging and possible damage, maybe catastrophic.

Especially for already damaged or poorly made batteries

Re: Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage

#303

Post by sowbug »

madrox wrote: post #229
nostrademons wrote: post #76

Note that the reason for airport mode is a courtesy to cell-phone carriers. It's not any air safety issue. Rather, 300-500 cell phones all trying to contact the next cell tower, multiple times per minute, would wreak havoc on cell service. https://www.inverse.com/article/51015-cell-phone-use-on-airp... At one point, when both cell phones and laptops were new, there was perhaps a risk to the airplane's electronics. Mo…

I once forgot to put my cell phone in airplane mode during a flight from London to SFO (and didn't use my phone during the flight). I was rather alarmed to see a flood of text messages from my carrier welcoming me to Iceland, Canada, and the US upon my landing.

This happens to me, too, particularly when I fly in Asia. I collect screenshots of notifications welcoming me to countries I've never been to.

Re: Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage

#304

Post by josephcsible »

golem14 wrote: post #173
heisenzombie wrote: post #46

“ Lufthansa claims that the transmission function needs to be turned off during flight when in checked luggage, just as is required for cell phones, laptops, etc.” On my phone, turning on airplane mode seems to disable the cell and wifi radios (with wifi able to be toggled back on) but Bluetooth defaults to staying on.

Apple could add a pressure sensor and disable transmission while in the air. Yes, might be not working for Tahoe or Mexico City but work in most places.

Why would doing that be in Apple's interest? Also, consider that the air pressure in airline cabins is about the same as it is on the ground in Santa Fe, NM.

Re: Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage

#305

Post by atlasunshrugged »

rory wrote: post #297
ktta wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The France clue actually contradicts my guess, because I'm guessing that was an Airbus? Anyways, he's one theory: Boeing has an issue where its radio altimeters are affected by C-band 5G transmissions. I believe maybe the pilots were relying more on the precision of the altimeter because their vision was impaired due to the bad weather? The whole 'turn off phones' instruction could be because people would follow the…

I'm pretty ignorant of airplane models, Air France flight but it was a large plane so may have been a Boeing 777.

I think they meant because it's Air France and the EU generally tries to support Airbus (based in Europe) rather than Boeing (based in the U.S.) it seems likely that it is an Airbus aircraft

Re: Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage

#306

Post by 8note »

seanp2k2 wrote: post #183
sigwinch28 wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Note that the reason for airport mode is a courtesy to cell-phone carriers. This doesn’t track. What about trains?

US resident here. What is a train? Those things that move cows, oil, and cars across those rusty bits of metal? I don't think those are suitable for human transportation.

Trains are what keep groceries on your shelves. They almost had general strike last week because the drivers only have 5 days a year not working. No weekends, no sick days, etc.

Re: Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage

#307

Post by CogitoCogito »

seanp2k2 wrote: post #205
glitcher wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It also sounds incredibly dumb when you think about how checked luggage gets scanned and searched. Isn't it typically after you've dropped it off with airline staff and have walked away towards a terminal gate? And when they find an airtag in checked luggage, how can they tell by looking at the airtag itself if "transmission function" has been turned off??? It seems to me they either have to throw away all airtags th…

>throw away all airtags I have no doubt that they'll do exactly this. They'll likely stick them into an RF-blocking pouch first, then destroy them all. You won't get it back, you won't get any compensation, and they'll point to their policies as to why.

I consider Lufthansa a pretty evil company, but I still doubt they will open your luggage and then destroy your personal property.

Re: Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage

#308

Post by StopHammoTime »

chrisseaton wrote: post #251
whatever1 wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For international trips this is close to 10%. My math professor is flying once a month to Europe from the US for the past 20 years. He told me about this statistic he built from his trip history and I thought he was exaggerating. On my 10th trans-Atlantic trip of course I lost my luggage.

So on a typical 747 flight 40 people will have their luggage lost when we get to the reclaim? That seems really improbably high. How come I don't see hundreds of people standing around getting angry at the belt? At Heathrow, it'd mean 20,000+ people a day with lost luggage (if they all checked luggage). You'd need more than the entire taxi fleet of London to get their luggage to their hotels. Really doesn't pass a co…

It could be as high as 10% if you have a connecting flight, maybe? I’ve been fortunate enough to always fly direct and never had any lost baggage. I’ve always assumed direct is fine, it’s once you start transferring loads across different flights and codeshare carriers it starts to do awry.

Re: Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage

#309

Post by ceejayoz »

antman wrote: post #254
ceejayoz wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They report in via Bluetooth, not NFC. My phone won’t scan one from more than a few inches, but I can locate them with Find My iPhone 20+ feet off.

Also what is the point? Bluetooth is easily detectable too

They don't identify as AirTags over BT like they do over NFC.

https://lifehacker.com/try-using-a-bluetooth-scanner-app-to-...

Re: Lufthansa bans AirTags in checked luggage

#310

Post by thepasswordis »

FredPret wrote: post #39
aliqot wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do see how they'd find it bothersome. Imagine what it must be like that the situation before was: "Oh no my baggage is lost!" "Oooh that's rough! We'll let ya know!" then nothing. Where now what it might be like is: "Oh no my baggage is lost at XYZ airport at your terminal" and that accountability is somewhat forced now because they can't just say it wasn't found or it is 'in transit' when it really isn't.

So inconvenient for them to do what they were contracted to do: fly you and your luggage from A to B. Can’t they just get free money?

Oh no! Our management/efficiency consultants have value engineered our labor practices to the point of extreme fragility!

Maybe hiring more McKinsey consultants can fix it!

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