Musician Johnny A lost a $4,000 case of gear on an Alaska Airlines flight from Boston to San Francisco. His Apple AirTag showed it was still at JFK, but the airline gave only automated responses. Security expert Robert Siciliano warns AirTags aren't reliable for tracking luggage and recommends layered security instead.
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New England musician says nearly $4,000 in equipment has gone missing, lost by the airlines.
Boston 25 News reporter Daniel Coates is at Logan, where the victim put an AirTag on his gear before taking off for San Francisco.
It's just like a ping pong ball, it's going back and forth every time I talk to somebody.
Johnny A, a New England-based musician, said he's been getting the runaround from Alaskan Airlines.
There isn't anybody that seems to be willing to help me in any urgent fashion.
The singer and guitarist was traveling west for a quick tour on January 3rd. He flew American Airlines from Logan to JFK in New York, and while there switched to Alaskan Airlines to jet off to San Francisco. When he landed, he realized his Pelican case with electronic amplifications inside was gone.
And I'm getting nowhere with Alaska Airlines. I've been literally on— I've hardly slept the last 4 days.
The kicker though is that Johnny has an AirTag in that case and claims the equipment valued at $4,000 is still at JFK right under their noses. He's been limping through his tour while he says the airline has sent him automated emails that they're allegedly still looking.
If I didn't have the AirTag on, I would have no idea of where the, where the piece of equipment was.
He has information, but he doesn't have control.
Robert Siciliano is an expert in security measures while flying, like AirTags that have become a popular trend for travelers.
It doesn't always work due to the fact that there has to be, uh, a mobile phone, an iPhone, in the area. This is a layer of protection, and the more layers you have in place, the more secure you and all your stuff are going to be.
Over the phone, Johnny's even offered to send his AirTag info to Alaskan Airlines and their JFK crews.
He said though they haven't taken him up. Get your house in order.
Johnny told me he's finishing his last concert out in Seattle Tuesday evening and will be flying back on a red-eye on Wednesday. But he told me though it's not off the table that he might just fly to JFK and try to find his equipment himself. On scene at Logan Airport, I'm Daniel Coats for your local station, Boston 25 News.
