Given that airlines have been doing a terrible job of monitoring baggage lately, the Apple AirTag or a similar tracker from Tile was a smart investment.
At least it seemed that way, until representatives of German airline Lufthansa started telling people on social media that AirTags in checked baggage posed a safety risk and thus were banned from the cargo hold. It was due to a lithium battery that could not be turned off.
However, the airline has now made itself clear be Allowed (due to the small amount of lithium) and now the US Federal Aviation Administration has confirmed that it does not contain beef with travelers putting an AirTag in their checked bags.
“Lithium metal cell baggage trackers containing 0.3 grams or less of lithium may be used in checked baggage,” the FAA said in a statement to The Points Guy (via Engadget). “Apple AirTags meet this limit; other baggage trackers may not.”
For what it’s worth, one AirTag contains just 0.1g of lithium. Therefore, you can travel with your AirTag without risking deceiving the airline, or getting in any trouble with the law.
Lufthansa’s initial position was based on the guidelines issued by the International Civil Aviation Organization. However, these guidelines are just that. Local authorities such as the European Aviation Safety Agency, and Luftfahrtbundesamt in Germany, are making the final call.
Neither of these people have blocked AirTags, so Lufthansa didn’t have to do that either. With so much confusion in the airline, it’s no wonder that Henry Hill and the rest of the good comrades did the easy job of depriving them of blindness at Idlewild Airport in the late 1970s.
AirTags are a great option for travelers because they can use Apple’s Find My network to provide an accurate location (based on thousands of Apple devices out in the wild) when your bag isn’t where it should be.