The headline is almost a summary of a news story that beat its way around the world and into literally thousands of publications and websites: The word was out that Lufthansa had banned Apple’s location-finding AirTags from checked bags on its collection of airline brands.
Except it hadn’t.
The airline issued first an inconclusive Twitter message, and then a press release saying that they were not allowed because of regulations by the ICAO, the International Civil Aviation Organization, that ban active lithium battery devices in checked bags because of a fire hazard.
That was followed by a statement that the European Air Safety Administration (EASA) was responsible for the ban, but that Lufthansa, parent also of Austrian, Brussels, Swiss and Eurowings Airlines, would consult with others to see what could be done. But EASA said they hadn’t banned AirTags and pointed at Lufthansa.
Finally, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration tried to quiet the ruckus by saying that AirTags are not banned from baggage in the U.S. because of their very low power use.
And then, on Wednesday, Lufthansa finally cleaned up the mess with a statement that “The German Aviation Authorities (Luftfahrtbundesamt) confirmed today, that they share our risk assessment, that tracking devices with very low battery and transmission power in checked luggage do not pose a safety risk. With that, these devices are allowed on Lufthansa flights.”
Moral of the story: If something doesn’t sound right, don’t fire off big headlines. Wait for clarification before drawing conclusions. TravelGumbo did!
