Passenger baggage handling systems (BHS) may not be the first thing that comes to mind when discussing airports, but they are a critical element of maintaining the operational and security demands of airports worldwide. While tasked with sorting, storing and identifying tens of thousands of pieces luggage-centric data per day, BHS are built to perform a series of repetitive tasks in a consistent and efficient manner while operating in a harsh environment.
Airports and their client airlines typically are required to manage the transportation of passengers’ baggage in 3 main areas:
- From passengers’ check-in points to departure gates
- Between flights
- From the arriving aircraft to the baggage-claim area
When developing a new baggage systems solution for an airport, designers typically should consider factors such as:
- Costs, both construction and operational over the life cycle of the equipment.
- Communications and reporting
- Maintenance
Cost. It should come as no surprise that BHS designs, like others, are typically constrained by costs. Every owner wants efficient BHS that is a cost-effective solution to meet the demands of their respective requirements and needs. Baggage system requirements and exceptions vary from airport to airport, as well as from carrier to carrier. Understanding the end user requirements early on, including TSA, BHS maintenance staff and airlines, helps to prevent the need to redesign the system later. Understanding these needs should be goal number one of the design team. Coaching your client on the importance of understanding these specific needs also benefits both the project team and client.
During the early design phases, it’s also important to help customers understand how they can achieve operational savings. On average, operational costs for a baggage system can be approximately 10 percent of annual construction costs. With an average lifecycle of 15 years, this is one area that affords an opportunity to realize savings over time.
Two ways to help keep costs down is to simplify and standardize components, such as the size of the motors operating in the system, and managing inventory of spare parts. Keeping standardized components across the BHS typically means less of a need to carry large inventories of spares.
Communication. When developing a new baggage system, there are numerous stakeholders, both internal and external, that will either be impacted by the system or have an impact on the system. Each stakeholder will have differing requirements when it comes to information that they need. As a result, it’s important for the designer to help their client develop a series of reporting tools in coordination with the stakeholders that have a reporting need.
In many cases reporting requirements are left to programmers of the BHS. Previously, this meant a standard series of reports that addressed TSA security reporting and tracking requirements, but not much else. Fortunately, many firms that currently program BHS allow for some customization of reports. Better reporting leads to a better understanding of system operations.
Because of the amount of data that can be derived from inputs and outputs throughout these systems, there are opportunities for predictive maintenance, as well as the existence of process and performance improvements through data mining.
Maintenance. Because annual maintenance costs could be about 10 percent of the construction cost, understanding how the airport plans to maintain the system also is important. Will it be maintained in-house with the existing pool of staff? If so, there needs to be an honest assessment of internal capabilities to maintain the conveyor system. Baggage systems are complex and require a unique skill set to monitor and operate at peak efficiency. That is why it is essential to have a comprehensive maintenance program and reporting system to allow the client to be proactive, rather than reactive when unexpected failures occur.
If the airport plans to engage outside contractors to maintain the baggage system, the design team needs to ensure that specifications and procurement documents require the contractor to provide programs to track maintenance in real time and are accessible to the client via a simple interface. Incorporating smart devices and reporting apps will help provide your client with ways to monitor system performance and preventative maintenance on the fly.
With air travel continuing to grow, demands on capacity of BHS will continue to increase. With that comes the need to increase screening capacity at airports to allow the processing of greater baggage volumes more securely, efficiently and reliably. It will fall on the design community to help guide our industry to meet the ever-increasing drive to improve overall customer satisfaction for travelers, airlines and airports.
Theo Gargagliano serves as east region aviation leader for HNTB Corporation. He has nearly two decades of experience in the aviation industry, and has overseen the development and integration of baggage systems at airports across the country, including Tampa International Airport, LaGuardia Airport, Little Rock National Airport and the Houston Airport System. He can be reached at [email protected].
