How many iPads and other devices get left on planes, and furthermore, how does the airline make sure they get back to their rightful owners?

This past month there was a Friday the 13^th and for me it was truly a Friday the 13^th. I was leaving on a trip to Seattle to give a keynote address for the Communications Academy. The first thing that happened was the plane for the flight I was supposed to take was hit by lightning and had to turn back at SFO. It landed safely and no one was injured, but damage to the tail section of the plane was extensive so they cancelled my flight.

Several hours later I was able to board a plane and we took off. After we reached 10,000 feet, the announcement that we could now use our approved electronic equipment was made and I turned my iPad 2 on so I could pick up where I left off reading a novel. Since my seat was in the bulkhead, I had stored it in the magazine pocket on the bulkhead so I reached for it, turned it on, entered my passcode, and made sure it was set so my wide-area, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth transmitters were turned off. The rest of the flight was fine and as we were descending we were told to turn off and stow our devices for landing, which I did, returning it to the magazine pocket.

Since I was late arriving in Seattle and in a rush to get off the plane, I grabbed my briefcase and suitcase from the overhead bin and headed out. In my hotel room, I began setting up my chargers for my phone, notebook and iPad and discovered that my iPad was not in my briefcase. Yes, I left it on the plane—a self-inflicted wound. I immediately called the airline and was told to go to its website/leftonboard and fill out the form. I did that and soon received a confirmation email with an ID for my claim. Two days later during my return trip, I stopped at the airline’s baggage office to inquire about my iPad and was told that everything left onboard was turned over to an off-airport warehouse and that I would be notified when and if they found it.

The next day, after returning home, I called the airline and asked about my iPad, at which time they told me that they had not had time to process items from the 13^th but would be doing so soon. I talked with them at length and I was told that my iPad was one of 18 that had been left on planes for their airline on the 13^th. I was shocked at the number and they told me that was about normal for a typical weekday. Most of them are left in seat-back pockets but sometimes they are left in the overhead compartments.

Matchmakers

At this point I became interested in the process of matching up all of these left-behind iPads with their owners and was told that when filing a report, you have to be specific and include things such as the color of the case and whether your name and address are on the outside (mine was not), and that when they found one they thought matched yours, they would call and try to verify that it really is yours. Further questioning revealed that if the iPad is locked with a code, you have a better chance of proving it is yours. You can tell them the code and if it works, they will ship the unit back to you without any hassles. If it is not locked, there will have to be another way to identify the unit as yours.

The best alternative, it seems, would be to open your iTunes app and tell them exactly what is on the first screen in the way of applications, and perhaps a few other screens as well. In my case, I had set it up to require a 4-digit code so when and if they find it, I can prove it is mine, and since the wall paper is distinct, I can further prove it is mine.

When I asked how many of the iPads they find are protected by password, their answer was only about 25 percent. So of the 18 they found that day, only four or five were protected. The other owners will have to work a lot harder to verify that the found iPad is really theirs. Further, if it is not protected and then does not make its way into the airlines left-behind/lost and found and instead is picked up by another passenger, he or she can turn it on and use it or browse your files and content. Since I do consulting work for both commercial and public safety wireless organizations, I have a lot of information on mine that I would not like floating out there for others to see.

Adding It Up

This experience was a real eye-opener for me. If this one airline finds 18 iPads a day during normal business days, that is 90 a week or more than 350 a month. And this is only iPads. I am constantly seeing people put their phones, iPods and other devices in the pocket in front of their seat and have to wonder how many of these devices are left onboard, how many are actually turned in, and how many make it back to their owners. I will have to wait a few more days to find out if mine will be returned to me. If not, I will start cancelling my wide-area, Kindle and other services I have on the device.

One great thing about iTunes in this case is that my iPad is backed up. The advantage with Apple is that if I have to purchase another iPad, I can put everything I had on my old one on the new one without too much trouble.

One final note—because I travel so much, I have become very aware that many people are not turning their devices off before takeoff and continue using them during taxiing and takeoff, and they are not turning off the wireless transmitters during the flight. I work in wireless every day and though I am not fully convinced that there is a real risk of causing problems for air communications and guidance systems, I am not about to take that chance. I turn all of my devices off – truly off – when I am told to do so. Those who don’t may or may not cause a problem with the plane, but they are certainly breaking an FAA and airline rule. Perhaps the airlines need to start using RF sniffers on their planes to identify the scofflaws.

Seybold heads Andrew Seybold Inc., which provides consulting, educational and publishing services. For more information, visit www.andrewseybold.com.