The next time you travel and you head onto that airplane jetway, make sure you have everything you brought to the airport. Anyone can tell when they feel too light because their bag isn’t with them, but apparently many travelers are leaving their iPhones, tablet computers and other devices behind.
That’s according to a survey by Credant Technologies, a data-protection company in Addison, Texas. The survey queried airports on the number of laptops, smartphone/tablets and USB sticks that were left behind, what various airports did with them and the percentage that were successfully reunited with their owners.
The results covered seven airports—Charlotte, Chicago-O’Hare, Denver, Miami, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Orlando and San Francisco—found that travelers left behind 8,016 devices between July 2011 and June 2012. Of those, 45 percent were smartphones or tablets, 43 percent were laptops and 12 percent were USB sticks. Although the survey didn’t analyze the number of lost items in relation to passenger volumes, it did reveal variations by location.
Denver reported the most lost devices (3,240), followed by O’Hare (1,320) and Charlotte (1,200). As for getting your lost electronics back, your odds are slightly better than 50-50, said Sean Glynn, vice president of marketing at Cendant—with 52 percent of items, on average, getting returned to travelers. For more on this trend, read here.
