[quitit]

One probably doesn't need to be too generous with a devil's advocate:

There are two kinds of scannable identification placed on luggage. The first is the more obvious loop tag, and the second are 2 secondary smaller barcode stickers, at least one of which is placed on the luggage directly in case the main tag is somehow removed.

Beyond that there are also the manual bag tags/slide-outs which most luggage still utilises, as well as the international bag-tracking service used by airlines. Additionally customers are instructed to describe their bag and contents as part of the lost bag process.

Because of this bags can be reunited with owners. The ones that are not seem to stem from staffing and procedural issues, which explains why some airlines are notorious for losing bags (e.g. AirEuropa.)

In too many cases already we see people who are able to locate their lost bag via an AirTag being ignored. AirTags also reveal that bags are often lost multiple times, such as when a person takes a holiday and their bags arrive well after they have left - complicating the recovery as the bag is now lost in a foreign airport and all recovery efforts are at arm's length.