Term Paper on "Impact of Automated Baggage Handling Systems"

Term Paper 16 pages (4480 words) Sources: 8

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Automated Baggage Handling Systems

One of the most notable innovations in modern air travel has been the development of automated baggage handling systems. Most major cities have new or redesigned airports that handle ever-increasing flows of passengers and baggage. Automated baggage handling systems make it possible to handle and track these flows more reliably and efficiently by making it possible to identify each and every bag passing through the airport and to track its position at all times, from the moment it leaves the passenger's hand at check-in to the time that it is reunited with the passenger at the baggage claim carousel. These qualities of automated systems depend upon using computers to handle enormous amounts of data and make split-second decisions about how to move each piece of baggage in light of all of that data.

Automated baggage handling systems are not, however, without significant problems. Because their operation involves handling vast amounts of data and an enormous number of moving parts, including vehicles devoted to handling bags individually, such systems are Byzantine in their complexity. Human experience teaches that all such complex systems prone to breakdowns. This is certainly true for automated baggage handling systems. In fact, the story of one of the most ambitious projects in building an automated baggage handling system is, to a great extent, a story of repeated failure and failed hopes.

The history of failure and frustration that has often followed the implementation of automated baggage handling systems has led to improvements in their design, construction and operation. The automated baggage handling systems currently being developed for use in newly constructed airports have eliminated many of the problems that plagued their predecessors. In addition, these newer systems are well adapted to meeting one of the most immediate and pressing threats to safe and efficient air travel -- terrorism. Because they can track and identify every bag passing through the airport, automated baggage handling systems can greatly reduce the risk that terrorists will be able to smuggle explosives into the cargo compartments of commercial flights. If nothing else, the ability of automated baggage handling systems to assure airport security demonstrates that, for all of their problems, they are an absolutely essential aspect of contemporary aviation.

How Changing Conditions in Modern Air Travel Necessitated the Development of Automated Baggage Handling Systems

The increasing volume of modern air travel made it virtually impossible to continue to handle baggage in the "conventional" fashion. In conventional baggage handling systems, decisions about the destination and routing of bags is made predominantly by individuals, who must read baggage tags, place the bags by hand onto baggage carrying vehicles, or "tugs," which ferry the bags to waiting planes. This process is replaced in reverse when the time comes to unload planes and distribute the bags back to the terminal. Conventional systems are labor intensive and, therefore, very expensive and often unreliable. Moreover, they cannot be utilized effectively over great distances. When bags must be moved from one end of a large terminal or concourse to another, time is of the essence. Conventional baggage handling systems simply cannot move quickly enough to accommodate airports built on a gargantuan scale.

Gargantuan scale is the order of the day in contemporary airports. Cities compete with each other to serve as "hubs" for one airline or another. Hub airports must be large, contain many gates, and provide quick turnaround times for both planes and passengers so that the airlines can provide an extensive and ever-shifting system of interconnecting flights. The scope of services that contemporary airports must deliver can seem overwhelming. In 2005, it was projected that, by 2011, London's Heathrow Airport would service 30 million passengers when its Termninal Five was completed and that the airport would employ 84,000 workers. (Coupe, 24).

The fact that airlines can be spectacular targets for terrorism also changes the way that airports operate. As one author pointed out, "[t]he challenge of dealing with such huge numbers is compounded by the ever-present threat of terrorism and the attendant emphasis on tight security." (Coupe, 24). The operators of airports are keenly aware that prospective terrorists may be eager to place explosives in baggage and then to place that baggage on planes. There is a need to identify and analyze each and every bag that passes through check-in and on to a plane.

These changes in airport operation have made it clear that it is impossible to safely operate a large airport without a system that can track each and every bag and move it across terminals and concourses at a rapid pace. This is what the automated baggage handling system can provide.

The Basic Elements of the Operation of Automated Baggage Handling Systems

When a passenger arrives at check-in, a bar-coded tag is attached to the bag. The tag identifies the name of the bag's owner, his or her flight number, airline, and final destination. If the passenger is making any intermediate connections those are identified on the tag as well. Once it is tagged, the bag is placed on a conveyor belt which brings the bag towards a mini railway system where it will be routed towards the passenger's waiting plane. (Schloch).

The mini-railway system is populated by "destination coded vehicles" ("DCVs"). There is one DCV for every bag. The DCV is a radio-controlled cart with a plastic tub on the top. The radio transponder permits the system's computers to control the movement of the DCV. The tub can be moved into three positions to automatically load, unload, and carry a bag. The DCVs are controlled by a computer system, which senses the flow of passengers throughout the terminal and dispatches DCVs to the appropriate places. During the airport's peak times, Denver has about 3550 DCVs available. The DCVs are propelled by linear induction motors that are placed at regular intervals along the track. (Schloh)

The conveyor belt holding the bag begins to move when a DCV arrives at the end of the belt, ready to accept the bag. The bag is then propelled into the tub at the top of the DCV. The DCV receives the bag without coming to a complete stop. It only slows down briefly as it passes along the rail line. As the bag is placed into the DCV, a laser scanner reads the bar code on the tag and transmits information to the computer system, which associates the bag with the DCV on which it has been loaded. The DCV then increases its speed and moves into the rail system. (Schloh).

Once the information about the bag and its associated DCV are recognized by the computer, the computer then works to assure that the DCV is routed to the loading area for the correct plane. Computers control the movement of the DCVs so that they merge with other DCV traffic passing through the system. When the DCV reaches the area near the plane, it exists the system and brings the bag to loading area for the plane. (de Neufville).

Early Automated Baggage Handling Systems

Early efforts at automated baggage handling systems were undertaken at: the United terminal at San Francisco International Airport; the Rhein-Main International Airport in Frankfurt, and at Franz Joseph Strauss Airport in Munich. These early systems had some significant differences from the later design used at Denver and elsewhere. The Frankfurt system used only trays that ran on conveyor belts; it did not use any DCVs or any kind of mini-railway network. The San Francisco system used much of the same technology, but it operated on a far smaller scale, using only 1/12 the number of DCVs. (Schloh).

Denver's Failed Effort to Build an Entire Airport Around an Automated Baggage Handling System

With the success of limited automated baggage handling systems, momentum was created to attempt more ambitious efforts at automated baggage handling systems. The planners of airports began to think that they could expand the ability of airports to handle passengers and cargo by expanding the efficiencies of their baggage handling systems. Denver became the focus for these ambitious plans.

In the 1990s, the city of Denver began planning an entirely new airport. The project was intended to make Denver one of the leading airports in the United States, if not the world. The airport was to cover fifty-three square miles and was designed to include space for as many as twelve major runways. The total cost of the construction project exceeded $5 billion. (de Neufville, p. 2).

The size and construction cost of the Denver airport made an automatic baggage handling system essential. In order to redeem the cost of building so many runways over such an extensive area, Denver had to be capable of handling large numbers of flights. The best way to assure a high volume of flights was to position Denver as a "hub" airport -- that is, an airport that was used as a transfer point for interconnecting flights. Denver could only succeed as a hub airport if it could provide quick turnaround times… READ MORE

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