The first phase of the deployment of an RFID system at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas has been completed with three airlines fully participating in the process of placing RFID tags on checked baggage. The system works by having luggage sent throught an explosive-detection system whereby RFID readers identify each bag before it is routed to the right plane. If the detector finds contents considered "suspicious," it is sent to another security-screening station for closer inspection.

According to Swanson Rink, the engineering firm that put the system together, the accuracy rate is 99.5%, which translates into less congestion and an increase that the right luggage will be loaded on the right flight. However, the system is unlikely to be able to prove that it decreases the amount of lost luggage, since airlines don't like to publicize the amount of luggage they lose. (If only someone could build a system for THAT…)