Passengers’ luggage recovery is changing as the Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiques (SITA) integrates the usage of major mobile platforms. This includes Google’s Find Hubs, baggage location sharing technology onto WorldTracer to assist in bag and suitcase recovery.
Passenger Controlled Luggage Recovery
Airlines are able to use the passengers’ baggage location-sharing feature on WorldTracer, the system that airlines use when dealing with luggage mishandling, to support baggage repossession. The passenger is in control of the recovery process when choosing to share luggage location data with airlines. When baggage is missing or delayed, a secure link will be created on Find Hub at the passenger’s request. This link is then provided to the airline with encrypted location data. The location-sharing period is decided by the passenger, and the link expires automatically. Luggage location sharing can expedite its recovery process and thus decrease the amount of baggage that is lost permanently.
“Airlines are operating in an environment where passengers expect visibility of their baggage at every step of the journey. When a bag is delayed, uncertainty increases compensation costs, customer service pressure, and reputational risk,” says Nicole Hogg, the Baggage Portfolio Director at SITA.
Added location visibility technology is a benefit for both the passenger, and the airline. Transparency can minimise search locations, and be a source of comfort for the passenger throughout the repossession process. In the past, bags’ and suitcases’ recovery was heavily reliant on data exchanged by airlines and airport scans.
Utilising Data Has Decreased Luggage Mishandling Cases
Within the past 20 years, the mismanagement of luggage has decreased by 67%, whilst air travel has seen the number of passengers has doubled, according to the 2025 Baggage IT Insights report conducted by SITA. With an increase in passengers choosing to share baggage locations, luggage recovery is slowly transforming towards more transparent and data-led practices.
“What we are seeing is a move from manual tracing to clearer, data-supported recovery. When passengers choose to share their bag’s location, airlines gain insight at the moment it matters most. This reflects how baggage recovery is becoming more transparent, more collaborative, and more precise,” Hogg explains.
Over 500 airlines and around 2,800 airports globally utilise WorldTracer in their operations. The development in passenger-shared baggage location furthermore reinforces a positive shift in recovery worldwide.
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