Baggage Handling Update FAA Simulates A380 Spacing Schiphol

www.aaae.org/magazine | October/November 2006

Baggage Handling UpdateFAA Simulates A380 SpacingSchiphol Tests Robotic Baggage System

E D I T O R I A L B O A R DWILLIAM G. BARKHAUER

Morristown, New JerseyBRYAN ELLIOTT

Charlottesville, VirginiaBILL HOGAN

Reynolds, Smith, & HillsJAMES E. JOHNSON

Odessa, FloridaRANDY D. POPE

Burns & McDonnell

A A A E B O A R D O F D I R E C T O R S

C H A I RELAINE ROBERTS, Columbus, Ohio

F I R S T V I C E C H A I RKRYS T. BART, Reno, Nevada

S E C O N D V I C E C H A I RJAMES P. ELWOOD, Aspen, Colorado

S E C R E T A R Y / T R E A S U R E RJOHN K. DUVAL, Boston, Massachusetts

F I R S T P A S T C H A I RR. LOWELL PRATTE, Louisville, Kentucky

S E C O N D P A S T C H A I RWILLIAM G. BARKHAUER, Morristown, New Jersey

B O A R D O F D I R E C T O R SSTEPHEN J. ADAMS, JR., Manchester, New Hampshire

LORI L. BECKMAN, Denver, ColoradoJAMES E. BENNETT, Washington, D.C.

RANDALL D. BERG, Salt Lake City, UtahBENJAMIN R. DECOSTA, Atlanta, Georgia

KEVIN A. DILLON, Manchester, New HampshireBRYAN O. ELLIOTT, Charlottesville, Virginia

LINDA G. FRANKL, Columbus, OhioMICHAEL J. HANEY, Moline, Illinois

GARY L. JOHNSON, Stillwater, OklahomaPAULA JORDAN, DFW Airport, Texas

ALEX M. KASHANI, Washington, D.C.PARKER W. MCCLELLAN, Orlando, FloridaMICHAEL A. MUSCA, Modesto, California

ROBERT P. OLISLAGERS, Englewood, ColoradoJEANNE M. OLIVIER, New York, New York

LISA A. PYLES, Addison, TexasGARY T. RICE, Santa Maria, California

C H A P T E R P R E S I D E N T SMIKE D. SHAHAN, Denison, Texas

ALVIN L. STUART, Salt Lake City, UtahROD A. DINGER, Redding, California

DAVID N. EDWARDS, Fletcher, North CarolinaTHOMAS M. RAFTER, Hammonton, New Jersey

CHARLES J. GOODWIN, Columbus, Ohio

P O L I C Y R E V I E W C O M M I T T E ETHELLA F. BOWENS, San Diego, CaliforniaMARK P. BREWER, Warwick, Rhode Island

TIMOTHY L. CAMPBELL, Baltimore, MarylandCHERYL COHEN-VADER, Denver International Airport

LARRY D. COX, Memphis, TennesseeALFONSO DENSON, Birmingham, Alabama

KEVIN C. DOLLIOLE, St. Louis, MissouriKENT G. GEORGE, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

MICHAEL A. GOBB, Lexington, KentuckyCHARLES J. ISDELL, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

THOMAS R. JARGIELLO, Fort Lauderdale, FloridaTHOMAS J. KINTON, JR., Boston, Massachusetts

DAVID KRIETOR, Phoenix, ArizonaLYNN F. KUSY, Mesa, Arizona

ERIN M. O’DONNELL, Chicago, IllinoisMORTON V. PLUMB, Anchorage, Alaska

MARK M. REIS, Seattle, WashingtonLESTER W. ROBINSON, Detroit, MichiganJAMES R. SMITH, Newport News, Virginia

P R E S I D E N TCHARLES M. BARCLAY, Alexandria, Virginia

M A G A Z I N E

Volume 18/ Number 6 | October/November 2006

f e a t u r e s

cover: Signage in the Digital Age| 22Aesthetics, emergency communications and advertising revenue can all play a partin implementing new signage. And what about plasma, LCD and LED technology?

Magazine Dedication| 16Tom Suzuki shaped the very first issues of Airport Magazine.

baggage handlingExpediting the Baggage Handling Process | 30As airports demand higher-speed baggage conveyance systems—and as theTSA demands more security—new baggage handling systems are being testedand installed. The result? Less lost luggage, higher delivery speeds andimproved security.

airport innovationSchipol Studies Robotic Automation For BaggageHandling Tasks | 36KLM and Schiphol Airport have implemented a pilot robotic baggage loading andunloading system that both lightens the load for employees and automates thebaggage handling process.

ground operationsFAA Simulates Potential Pavement Problems And ATCDelays For A380 | 42Computer simulations developed for the Airbus A380 at the FAA TechnicalCenter will help airports deal with the increased weight load and longer in-trailspacing mandated by ICAO.

d e p a r t m e n t s

Inner Marker 6

Up Front 8

Corporate Outlook 18

Market Scan 20

General Aviation 29

Retail Spotlight 34

Airport Spotlight 40

Airport Tech 46

Billboard 48

Advertisers’ Index 49

Advertisers’ Index 50

coming in Airport MagazineArchitecture/Engineering/Planning Trends (December/January)Parking Update (December/January)

Cover Design: Daryl E. Humphrey

22

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Airport Magazine | October/November 20066

Idiscussed in this space, in a previous issue, theadvent of Very Light Jets (VLJs), their positiveimpact on our industry and their potential

impact on our airspace and airports. An additional positive aspect of VLJs was brought

to my attention recently in a meeting with RickCrider, CEO of Gainesville Regional Airport, inFlorida. Crider and I got together at the annualNational Business Aviation Association (NBAA) con-vention in Orlando, as this issue was going to press.

VLJs are the subject of much conversation andspeculation here at the convention because theyare relatively new and because they have attractedsignificant amounts of capital investment fromboth traditional aviation and non-aviation sources.Several rosy general aviation industry forecastswere released this week at the convention, most ofthem taking into account the introduction of VLJsto the marketplace. Although the various forecastspresent slightly different numbers, they are allextremely positive.

Crider has an airport success story to tell,which involves VLJs, Eclipse Aviation andGainesville Airport. DayJet, one of the first-to-market on-demand air taxi services employingthe Eclipse 500 VLJ, has picked Gainesville asone of nine “dayports” located in Florida.Gainesville Airport, which serves three sched-uled airlines and a lot of general aviation traffic,was selected for its strong business climate anddemand for direct regional access. The city is alsohome to the University of Florida, a communitycollege and a major medical center.

The concept behind DayJet is to offer per-seat, on-demand service primarily to business travelersmaking short trips—or in other words, making theconvenience of corporate jets available to a muchbroader market than traditionally has been the case.

As an added economic development bonus toGainesville, Eclipse is building a 61,000 square footmaintenance facility at the airport. The factoryservice center is slated to open in early 2007. Halfof the $11.2 million construction project was fund-ed by the Florida Department of Transportation(FDOT) Aviation Work Program, with the other halffunded by traditional bank financing. Crider saysthat tax incentives were also part of the packageoffered to Eclipse and DayJet.

Crider makes it clear that Gainesville’s successstory is the hard-won product of a cooperativeeffort by the airport authority, Eclipse and DayJetofficials, the local Chamber of Commerce, andregional and state government. A host of individu-als played a part and many people will benefit fromthe creation of new business and new jobs, with apotential of 160 employees at the Eclipse mainte-nance base and 60 at the DayJet dayport. A largenumber of the jobs are high-paying, skilled laborjobs. According to DayJet, the combined averageeconomic impact to the community of both theDayJet base and the Eclipse facility during the firstthree years of operation will be more than $26 mil-lion—an impressive number.

Crider’s advice to other airports looking to buildtheir economic base: “Gainesville Airport is seen asan economic engine. Be flexible and look for newbusiness paradigms and evolving trends.” Solidadvice from someone who knows.

Clif [email protected]

iminner marker

Airports As Economic Engines

I N T E R I M E D I T O RCLIF STROUD

[email protected]

P U B L I S H E RJOAN LOWDEN

E X E C U T I V E E D I T O RELLEN P. HORTON

D E P U T Y E D I T O RBARBARA COOK

N E W S E D I T O RHOLLY ACKERMAN

A S S I S T A N T / S P O T L I G H T S E D I T O RBETSY WOODS

A R T D I R E C T I O NDARYL HUMPHREY

S E N I O R G R A P H I C D E S I G N E RSEUNG HEE LEE

C O N T R I B U T O R SATAA ALY

SCOTT CATTRANJENNIFER MICHELS

HENRY PETERSALISON SMITH

S T A F F C O N T R I B U T I N G E D I T O RERYN TRAVIS

Director of Communications, Federal Affairs

S T A F F P H O T O G R A P H E RJAMES MARTIN

S T A F F V I C E P R E S I D E N TS A L E S A N D M A R K E T I N G

SUSAN [email protected]

D I R E C T O RS A L E S A N D M A R K E T I N G

GREG [email protected]

E D I T O R I A L O F F I C E 601 Madison Street, Suite 400

Alexandria, VA 22314(703) 824-0500, Ext. 126

Fax: (703) 820-1395Internet Address: www.aaae.org/magazine

Send editorial materials/press releases to: [email protected]

R E P R I N T I N F O R M A T I O NTHE REPRINT DEPARTMENT

(717) 481-8500

Airport Magazine is published bimonthly by the AAAE Service Corporation Inc.,

a wholly owned subsidiary of the AmericanAssociation of Airport Executives, and the

Airport Research and Development Foundation.

Subscription price for AAAE members is includedin the annual dues. U.S. subscription rate to

non-members is $45 for one year. International ratefor non-members is $75. Single copy price is $10.

Copyright 2006 by AAAE. All rights reserved.

Statements of fact and opinion are theresponsibility of the authors and do not

necessarily reflect the views of AAAEor any of its members or officers.

POSTMASTERSend address changes to:

Airport Magazine601 Madison Street, Suite 400

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M A G A Z I N E

Airport Magazine | October/November 2006 7

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Sea-Tac TranslationService AidsInternationalTravelers

Seattle-Tacoma International Airporthas responded to growing foreign lan-guage interpretation needs with a lan-guage access program that uses dualhandset phones to provide passen-gers with information in their own language.

The airport used to be served onlyby a Japanese visitor center and someon-site interpreters assigned to spe-cific flights. In the last few years,however, Sue Hansen Smith, the air-port’s customer service manager,noticed a much wider spectrum ofinternational visitors, and saw theneed for the airport to update its lan-guage access program to includeadditional languages.

To create a cost-effective, user-friendly way to serve a growing num-ber of multi-lingual travelers, HansenSmith began working with LanguageLine Services, an interpretation serv-ice, to integrate Language Line dual-handset phones throughout the air-port. These phones enable passengersto have a three-way conversationwith an airport customer serviceagent and interpreter. The phones arereadily available in customs, immi-gration, agriculture and the main ter-minal, along with cordless versionsin other locations.

“We want international travelers tofeel welcome when they arrive at Sea-Tac Airport,” said Port of SeattleCommission President Patricia Davis.“Language Line Services’ dual hand-set phones make it possible to pro-vide interpreter services to passen-gers in languages we were not able toaccommodate in the past. We’re ableto provide travelers with information

in their native languages, whichmakes it much easier for passengersto understand the Customs andImmigration process, enhance securi-ty procedures and expedite passengerprocessing.”

The Language Line Service has sig-nificantly increased the number oftravelers who can be accommodated,providing translations in 170 lan-guages.

“Language Line Services receiveshundreds of call a month from Sea-Tac,” Louis Provenzano, LanguageLine Services president and chiefoperating officer. “In August alone,Sea-Tac requested interpreters in 29 different languages, the mostpopular being Korean, Vietnameseand Mongolian.”

Phoenix Sky HarborOpens Areas ofRescue For PeopleWith Disabilities

Phoenix Sky Harbor InternationalAirport has created areas of rescueassistance to be used by people inwheelchairs or those with limitedmobility in the event of an emergency,when elevators may be shut down,leaving only stairs by which to exit thebuilding. The areas of rescue are well-marked with a sign showing a wheel-chair symbol, and most often are locat-ed in the landings of stairwells.

During an emergency, firefighterswill check the areas of rescue for peo-

Language Line dual-handset phones allow Sea-Tac to provide translation services in

170 languages.

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ple who need to be transported orneed assistance down stairs. In addi-tion, each area is equipped with anintercom system that provides two-way communication with the SkyHarbor Communications Center.Instructions are located at each sitetelling visitors what to do in case of anemergency. In addition, there areBraille-enhanced “You are here” mapsin these areas. When the communica-tions center is contacted via intercomfrom one of these locations, the dis-patchers can automatically identifythe location of the caller. The inter-com allows the person in need ofassistance to talk to the communica-tions center dispatcher.

The area of rescue assistance proj-ect started in Terminal 2, wherethere are five such locations behindsecurity in the gate areas. There alsoare ramps from the lobby to the exitsof Terminal 2. Areas of rescue are

currently being planned forTerminal 3. When the project is fin-ished, there will be four areas of res-cue in Terminal 3. They will belocated on balconies extending fromstairway landings, off of Level 2 inthe lobby area. In Terminal 4, thereare six in the stairwells off the lobbyarea of Level 3 (pre-security) andseveral also available behind security.

Los Angeles Airport ReceivesAlternative-FuelAirfield Buses

Los Angeles International Airport(LAX) has received 12 high-capacityairfield buses from North AmericanBus Industries (NABI) that operate oncompressed natural gas.

news briefs

U.K.-based National Express Group PLCannounced that it is talking to interestedparties about assuming the remainder ofthe lease the company now holds forNew York's Stewart InternationalAirport. National Express said it deter-mined to exit the airport lease to focusin on its core bus and train business."Airports are not planned to be part ofthe core portfolio long term," the com-pany said. National Express said itexpects to make a selection in the nearterm of the new lease holder, and com-plete the transaction by year-end…. TheNew Orleans Aviation Board has adopt-ed a relief package to assist small busi-nesses and subtenants participating inthe gifts and concessions program atLouis Armstrong New OrleansInternational. When Hurricane Katrinastruck in August 2005, the small busi-ness owners/subtenants of New OrleansAir Ventures, the airport's news and giftsmaster concessionaire, were earning anet cash flow of approximately $365,000annually. Since Katrina, with the down-turn in passenger traffic, the annual netcash flow has been reduced to approxi-mately $60,000, a $300,000 negativeimpact, the board said. The relief pack-age approved for the concessionaires isexpected to total more than $1.1 millionin additional cash flow over four years.The program is expected to cost the avi-ation board approximately $250,000annually….IBM has been chosen to pro-vide a new IT system for Letiste Prahaa.s. (Prague Airport) in the CzechRepublic. The new IT system will enablethe airport to improve service and lowercosts, IBM said. As part of the three-and-a-half year agreement, IBM willimplement the solution over the next16 months, and maintain and managethe system….

Retail Breifs are on pg 35.

Areas of rescue will allow emergency personnel to locate and assist disabled individu-

als more quickly.

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At a cost of $659,000, each bus hasseating for 22 plus standing capacityof 80 with carry-on bags, includingspace for wheelchairs and strollers.There are two wheelchair ramps.

The new higher-capacity airfieldbuses are needed to accommodate thearrival of new large aircraft, such asthe Airbus 380, that will begin serv-ice at LAX. Seven international aircarriers have announced plans tooperate the A-380, starting in late2007 or early 2008 through 2010. TheA-380 can carry between 555 and 800passengers, depending upon seatingconfiguration.

The 60-foot-long buses will trans-port passengers between the termi-nals and the remote boarding gatesmore efficiently than the airport’sexisting fleet of 20 airfield buses thataccommodate 60 to 80 passengerseach. These new buses replace five22-year-old diesel buses that are atthe end of their operating service life.

“The new buses are state-of the-art,alternative fuel, ADA compliant,fully air-conditioned and will be use-ful on and off the airfield if there is a

diversion for on-airport activity,” saidMark Baskin, a bus operator supervi-sor. “LAX bus operations logged 659operations carrying 123,282 passen-gers in April alone so these buses willmore easily accomplish that.”

Built in Anniston, Alabama, byNABI and driven to the facilities of itsregional service division in Ontario,Calif., as part of the company’s roadtest program, the buses were thendelivered to LAX.

There are nine cameras on each busfor security purposes.

Horizon Air, United Airlines Help Expand PDX Food WasteDiversion Program

Portland International Airport (PDX)is expanding its food-waste diversionprogram with assistance fromHorizon Air and United Airlines.

Horizon serves PDX travelers about600 cups of coffee each day. All thatcoffee generates a lot of coffeegrounds that are now being turnedinto compost as part of the PDX food-waste diversion program. UnitedAirlines is supporting the program bycollecting food scraps from employeelunchrooms at PDX.

Collecting food waste from airlinesis the newest phase of the expandingfood waste diversion program. Sinceits launch by the Port of Portland in2003, the program has sent about 550tons of food waste to a regional com-posting facility. This year alone, theprogram will divert from landfills anestimated 240 tons of food waste,including food preparation scraps,coffee grounds, plate scrapings, food-soiled paper napkins and towels, andother compostable paper fibers likewaxed cardboard. The food wastecomes from about two dozen PDXrestaurants, hotels and flightkitchens, and now from airlines.

These companies and others alsorecycle paper, cardboard, glass,metal, plastic bottles, pallets and

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more efficiently than current buses.


even cooking grease, airport offi-cials noted.

“We like to use our resources wise-ly,” said Nikki Meler, Horizon Airfood and beverage supervisor.“Contributing our coffee grounds tothe food waste diversion program is agreat opportunity to not only avoidsending material to the landfill, but

also help create a valuable commodi-ty—compost.”

Horizon collects its coffeegrounds in five-gallon buckets.Employees then dump the loose cof-fee grounds into food-waste contain-ers provided by the port. The portsends food waste to the Metro trans-fer station, and from there the waste

is processed at Cedar GroveComposting facilities, located inMaple Valley and Everett, Wash.Once processed, waste from the air-port may wind up in a nearby homeimprovement store as high-qualitycompost and soil amendment.

Gresham Sanitary Service, theport’s food waste hauler, collectsfood scraps from PDX and partnerbusinesses located near the airportas part of one collection route,rather than making separate haulingtrips. That approach offers partici-pating businesses reduced trans-portation costs, and helps reduce airemissions. Gresham SanitaryService exclusively uses Biodiesel(B20) in all of its waste haulingtrucks, further protecting air quality,officials noted.

USA3000 LaunchesFlying BillboardPromotion

USA3000, St. Petersburg-ClearwaterInternational Airport, and the St.Petersburg-Clearwater Conventionand Visitors Bureau are launching anew advertising promotion to cele-brate the airline’s third anniversary ofservice at the airport–—a flying bill-board. Mounted on the tail of a USA3000 A320 aircraft is a wrap-around photo of one of Pinellas County’s beaches withwww.Floridasbeach.com on one sideand the airport’s tagline, “YourGateway to Tampa Bay,” and web address, www.fly2PIE.com, onthe other.

“We are thrilled to team withUSA3000 on this unique promotion-al idea,” said Carole Ketterhagen,executive director of the conventionand visitors bureau. “This is a fun,creative way to generate exposurefor our brand and our destination.”

The airline said it has been suc-cessful at the airport, prompting itto bring back in-flight meal serviceas of October 1. USA3000’s first in-flight magazine, Roam, also debuted

A Horizon Air employee empties coffee grounds into food waste containers provided by

the Port of Portland.

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over the summer. The carrier serves St. Petersburg-ClearwaterInternational with 25 flights a weekto seven destinations.

Dulles Moves AheadWith AeroTrainDevelopment

Construction on the WashingtonDulles International AirportAeroTrain system is moving apace,with a planned launch of the firstphase of the project in 2009.

Designed to replace most of themobile lounge “people movers” thathave been used since the airportopened in 1962, AeroTrain is a rubbertired, automated train system thatwill run underground and connectthe airport’s main terminal to all theconcourses.

The train system is part of theDulles Development expansion proj-ect dubbed “D2,” a long-term capital

construction program in response tothe significant growth the 12,000-acre airport has experienced in thepast 16 years. In 2005, the airportserved 27 million passengers, com-pared to 10.4 million in 1990.

Aircraft operations have more thandoubled, from 242,000 in 1990, toover 500,000 in 2005.

The main terminal train station isbeing built on the airfield side, 60 feetbelow ground. It will span the entirelength of the terminal—1,600 feet.When the final phase of theAeroTrain system is complete—designed as one continuous loopbetween the main terminal, the fourmidfield concourses and a futureSouth Terminal—there will be 10 sta-tions, 63 vehicles and more thanseven miles of track. The train willtravel at 42 mph, with an estimatedtravel time between stations of 72seconds. Waiting time for a train willbe 1.9 minutes.

In order to minimize the disruptionto current buildings and airport activ-ity, a new Austrian tunneling methodis being employed that grinds therock face in layers. Shotcrete is thenapplied immediately to reinforce theexposed tunnel walls. The boringmachine, known as a “mole,” boresthrough solid rock about 55 feetbelow grade. Pre-cast concrete wall-lining segments are put into place bythe mole as it moves forward. Widthof the tunnels is 21 feet; depth is upto 51 feet.

The AeroTrain system includes amaintenance facility, which is being

constructed southwest of runway 1R.

USA3000 is promoting its service to St. Petersburg-Clearwater International with a

“billboard” on the tail of an A320 aircraft.

When completed, the Dulles AeroTrain system will include 10 stations, 63 vehicles and

more than seven miles of track.

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it’s a comfort to know

For more information, call 1-800-728-1187 or visit www.honeywell.com/homelandsecurity©2006 Honeywell International Inc. All rights reserved.

We’re quietly behind the scenes making airports more secure. You can rely on Honeywell’s

security solutions to help solve core operating issues. We provide a single, expert source for

your fire detection, environmental controls and security needs. Our systems can be found

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built around making you and your travelers feel comfortable and secure—and that’s a good

feeling to know. Go ahead and put our sixty years of aviation experience to work for you.

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It will accommodate 24 train carsinside the building, and an addition-al 20 cars in the yard, and will alsohouse the train system’s operationscontrol center.

An additional part of the expansionis a new 9,500-foot runway, whichwill be the airport’s third parallelnorth/south runway. It is scheduledfor completion in 2008. An environ-mental impact study has been com-pleted for a future fifth runway.

Dulles Development “is a massivepublic-works project when taken inits totality,” commented JamesBennett, A.A.E., president and CEOof the Metropolitan WashingtonAirports Authority. “We are con-structing a train system, building pas-senger facilities, building a new run-way and reconstructing the entiresecurity screening area in our mainterminal to improve service to ourcustomers, make the passenger expe-rience much more efficient and toreduce the lines that crowd our ticketcounter level.”

In 2005, more than $450 millionwas spent on Dulles Development,employing 2,600 people in construc-tion-related jobs.

SEADOG Ready For EmergencyCommunications

The Florida Airports Council (FAC)and the Southeastern AirportsDisaster Operations Group (SEADOG)have joined forces to ensure that air-ports in their region have communi-cations in times of emergency. Thatcommunication comes in a 20-foot-long, tandem-axle trailer equipped toprovide a portable communicationsplatform for airport operators whennormal communication channels aredown. The trailer, previously used ina NASA test program, was donated toPensacola Regional Airport by theFlorida Department of Transportation(FDOT) and Harris Corp.

The trailer is a self-sufficientmobile command center that houses a

seven-kilowatt generator, air condi-tioning system, computer work sta-tions, weather sensors and confer-ence area and VHF radio communica-tion station capable of patching mul-tiple aircraft frequencies and servingas a temporary tower.

With the purchase of an InmarsatBroadband Global Area Network(BGAN) system, the trailer has, inaddition to serving as a temporaryworking environment, the capabilityof providing the following communi-cation abilities without reliance onarea infrastructures: six phone linesfor voice or fax communication,Internet access and e-mail at 464 kbpsfor computer workstations; wirelessInternet and e-mail within 500 yardsof the trailer; cordless telephone abil-ities and data streaming at 128 kbpsfor video, audio or file transfer.

The Inmarsat BGAN system oper-ates through a dedicated satellitelaunched in 2006 and has redundantreceiving points in Georgia andCalifornia. The trailer has a dedicatedphone number assigned for incomingcalls or faxes.

FDOT awarded the FAC a $9,000grant to purchase the satellite com-munications system and to fundestimated operational costs associat-ed with activation and satellite sys-tem utilization (air time). Severalcompanies equally contributed theirservices and products to equip thetrailer, including the SoutheastChapter of AAAE, which is arrang-ing for $3,000 in additional comput-er equipment.

San Diego Airport OffersBraille ScreeningAssistance Cards

San Diego International Airportreports it has become the first air-port in the nation to use Braille andlarge-format text assistance cards tomake the security screening processat airport checkpoints easier for air-line passengers with hearing and/orvisual disabilities.

The SEADOG communications trailer provides computer work stations, wireless Internet

capabilities and VHF radio communications that allow it to serve as a mobile command

center and temporary ATC tower.

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The cards—with messages writtenin Braille and repeated in extra largefont size—cover the 12 most fre-quently asked questions at the securi-ty screening checkpoints at San DiegoInternational Airport. The assistancecards are available for use by TSAscreeners at all the airport’s securitycheckpoints.

The cards were developed by theSan Diego County Regional AirportAuthority, which operates the air-port, with assistance from local TSAstaff. Proposed questions were thenshared with several organizationsthat represent people with disabili-ties for input, including theAmerican Association of the Deaf-Blind, the American Council of theBlind, the California StateIndependent Living Council, the cityof San Diego Disability ServicesProgram, the National Organizationon Disability and the San DiegoCenter for the Blind.

TSA has indicated to the airportauthority that use of the cards at SanDiego International may be a modelfor similar programs at major airportsnationwide.

“We are pleased to be at the fore-front of providing innovative cus-tomer service initiatives like this forour guests with visual and/or hearingdisabilities,” said Thella Bowens,president/CEO of the airport authori-ty. “This program is in the same spir-it of many other innovative programswe’ve launched at San DiegoInternational Airport, including anassistance animal and pet relief area,a training guide for communicatingwith people with disabilities, airportfamiliarization tours, and more. It’sanother step forward in accomplish-ing our goal of 100% accessibility forall our customers.”

The idea for the specialized assis-tance cards was originally conceivedfollowing the 2003 bi-annual confer-ence of the American Association ofthe Deaf-Blind, which was held inSan Diego.

New ComputerStations HelpTravelers StayConnected AtAustin-Bergstrom

PowerPort computer stations nowoffer passengers at Austin-BergstromInternational Airport a new way tostay connected and productive whiletraveling through the airport. Theautomated stations supply Internetaccess, laptop rentals, battery andcell phone chargers (most cell phonecharger cords provided), USB portsfor uploading files, the ability todownload music, and free printing.PowerPort computer stations arelocated on the concourse across fromGate 6 and between Gates 15 and 17.Owned and operated by Power

Station LLC, Austin-Bergstrom is thesixth airport nationwide to receivethe stations.

PowerPort stations have four walk-up computer stations and two laptopstations. Customers can rent laptopsthat may be used anywhere inside theairport. For Internet access, usersmust stay within 300 feet of thePowerPort station. Charging baysallow customers to leave their laptop,cell phone, or other electronic itemsin a secure, locked bay while they arebeing charged.

All major credit cards are accept-ed, and cash is accepted for the walk-up computer stations only. Pricesrange from $2 for 10 minutes of walk-up Internet access using your ownlaptop to $2.50 for 10 minutes using aPowerPort computer and $6.95 perhour for a wireless laptop rental andInternet use. A

This issue of Airport Magazine is dedicated toTom Suzuki, the founding art director of thepublication who died a few weeks ago after

a short illness. Thanks to Tom, our association pro-duced a magazine that, from day one, receivedmany design awards and has been used as a stan-dard for association publications. But, as usual,there is much more to the story than that.

In 1988, when AAAE decided to publish abimonthly magazine, expectations were high.AAAE wanted a first-class product, but our planwas for it to be designed entirely on a computer,thinking that it would be easier to produce.

While that might not sound like a tall order, itwas in 1988. At that time, magazines weredesigned by hand, with only a few small piecesproduced using a computer. All the graphic design-ers I interviewed said a top-notch magazine couldnot be designed on a computer.

Enter Tom Suzuki. Among his long list of accom-plishments, Tom was the founding art director forthe highly acclaimed Psychology Today, and theformer art director at Time-Life Books. Tomresponded to our challenge with gusto, which washis approach to all things in life. Not once did he tryto dissuade us from our mission. Instead, he provedthe others wrong and created an elegant, well-designed publication produced entirely on a com-puter — and on time.

But Tom was much more than an art director toanyone who came in contact with him. He was ateacher of art and of life. His interests were endless,as was his patience. Tom initiated me into the mag-azine world and, I am sure, used a lot of thatpatience teaching me the rules of magazine design.But never, even at 4 a.m. before the first issue wasto be sent to the printer and we were still makingchanges, did Tom’s enthusiasm wane. In fact, Ithink as the hour grew later, Tom got even morephilosophical about the important things in life —like type fonts, for example. Perfection was infi-nitely more important than sleep!

One of Tom’s strengths was that he made designwork for the reader. He never forgot that designshould always enhance readability. And his disci-pline resulted in a magazine that was a joy to read.

The knowledge that Tom Suzuki shared with meand the Airport Magazine staff will never be forgot-ten. But, more importantly, we will never forget theman himself. His chosen profession was art direc-tor, but the way he lived his life was the true gift toall who knew him. His keen intellect was pairedwith a passion for sharing his ideas and an almostchild-like excitement about the world around him.

Thank you, Tom, for helping create AirportMagazine and for all you have done for us and ourreaders over the years. You will be deeply missedand never forgotten. A — Joan Lowden

A True Original


Tom Suzuki

dedication

Dynamic Signage is a subject that conjures upmany images and ideas in the minds of air-port management. There are many aspects

to dynamic signage based on the solution it pro-vides. There are many areas in and around airportterminals where directing, guiding and informingtravelers is challenging. Most airports have servicerepresentative groups to handle just this aspect oftraveler assistance. In many cases legacy terminaldesign, subsequent renovations and the mix of newand old complicate wayfinding and providingtimely information.

Several factors have created new needs and chal-lenges for traveler guid-ance and information.One is the increasedvolume of travelerssince September 11,which has added con-gestion and delays togetting where oneneeds to go. Changes inairline food servicesand security issuesrequire public spaces toaccommodate travelersduring longer dwelltimes and layovers. And the last and most signifi-cant trend is the growing number of airline carriersand how airports serve the traveling public with abroader range of choices.

The traditional use of Flight Information DisplaySystems (FIDS) has evolved over the last five yearsto incorporate new technology and capabilities.We now see many flat-panel video screens in vari-ous locations at gates and holding areas that pro-vide far more information than basicarrival/departure times and locations. New multi-user FIDS (MUFIDS) are no longer provided exclu-sively by the airlines and require airports to pro-vide this information for all carriers. In addition,new content such as local weather, visual pagingand advertising have become an integral add-onto flight information. These systems are informa-

tion rich, and with the use of liquid crystal dis-plays (LCD) or plasma video screens provide aplethora of information in a graphical or visualnature, but are not effective in all locations orother applications.

These locations or applications are what I wouldrefer to as decision-making points for the traveler.For example, “Where do I park?” “Where do I gofor …?,” “Where is my airline drop-off and pickuplocation?” Many of these questions need to beanswered well ahead of decision-making points oncrowded roadways, at parking facility entrances orexits, and curbside. Inside the terminal, this same

information needs toguide travelers to secu-rity screening, con-courses, airline gates,customs inspectioncounters, travel servic-es and amenities.

Large and small air-ports also supportmany airlines that oper-ate only on certain daysof the week. And manyterminals have multipleparking facilities collo-

cated near a terminal supporting a group of air-lines. These are two other examples where LCDs orPlasma screens are not effective and cannotaddress outdoor locations or larger groups.

Dynamic signage can provide many useful pur-poses. It can guide and direct travelers with sta-tus, promotional, emergency and airline directorylistings that inform travelers where to go, andwhen and how to proceed. Dynamic signage canbe controlled via automated, integrated AOIS sys-tems or through dedicated stand-alone controlsystems. Light emitting diode-based dynamic sig-nage can be incorporated into or combined withstatic signage providing a flexible and effectivetool to communicate with the traveler. A

DeWayne Anderson is Aviation Market Manager for Daktranic.

By

Dew

ayne

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n cocorporate outlook

Dynamic Signage Leads The Way


Dynamic signage can be

controlled via automated,

integrated AOIS systems or

through dedicated stand-alone

control systems.

Top 25 Departure Airports WorldwideNovember 2001 vs November 2006

msmarket scan

Ranked by Available Seats

Data provided by OAG WorldwideExperts in global travel content

www.oagdata.com

Available Seats Available Flights

Airport Nov. 2001 Nov. 2006 Variance Nov. 2001 Nov. 2006 Variance

Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International 1 1 4,700,701 4,578,330 -3% 35,890 39,819 11%

Chicago O’Hare International 2 2 4,416,959 3,933,411 -11% 38,552 37,934 -2%

London Heathrow 3 4 3,640,190 3,719,926 2% 18,996 19,517 3%

Los Angeles International 4 3 3,802,521 3,192,623 -16% 27,589 23,981 -13%

Tokyo Haneda 5 6 3,048,183 3,061,486 0% 10,841 12,947 19%

Dallas/Fort Worth International 6 5 3,416,892 3,041,035 -11% 31,332 27,224 -13%

Paris Charles de Gaulle 7 7 2,843,248 3,024,240 6% 19,676 19,879 1%

Frankfurt International 8 8 2,780,775 2,902,739 4% 17,055 18,365 8%

Madrid Barajas 9 10 2,241,883 2,550,300 14% 15,261 17,705 16%

Hong Kong International 10 18 1,966,496 2,474,080 26% 7,176 9,587 34%

Bangkok International 11 19 1,951,472 2,454,420 26% 7,586 10,851 43%

Denver International 12 13 2,138,771 2,409,091 13% 18,365 23,365 27%

Phoenix Sky Harbor International 13 11 2,204,364 2,376,122 8% 17,569 18,937 8%

Las Vegas McCarran International 14 20 1,946,586 2,348,946 21% 13,496 16,652 23%

New York J F Kennedy International 15 24 1,788,436 2,347,853 31% 10,812 16,300 51%

Amsterdam 16 16 2,013,734 2,140,940 6% 16,289 16,015 -2%

Houston George Bush Intercontinental 17 17 2,006,627 2,132,003 6% 18,283 23,247 27%

Singapore Changi 18 23 1,812,091 2,092,002 15% 6,826 8,351 22%

Detroit Wayne County 19 9 2,244,091 2,016,846 -10% 20,433 19,062 -7%

Tokyo Narita 20 33 1,530,457 1,868,118 22% 4,520 6,675 48%

Newark Liberty International 21 15 2,099,079 1,866,748 -11% 17,644 16,643 -6%

Munich International 22 36 1,492,669 1,864,629 25% 13,627 16,153 19%

Minneapolis International 23 14 2,130,475 1,863,346 -13% 18,905 17,112 -9%

Philadelphia International 24 25 1,732,003 1,835,295 6% 16,598 18,708 13%

Beijing Capital 25 37 1,443,134 1,777,596 23% 7,061 8,909 26%

Totals 61,391,837 63,872,125 4% 430,382 463,938 8%

Airport Magazine | October/November 200620source: OAG MAX (www.oagmax.com)

Rank2001

Rank2006

• On-line Training accessible any time from any Internet connec-tion—at your desk, at home, and on the road

• On-Demand Library with thousands of hours of training videos

• Automatic logging/tracking of employee training creditsthrough the Airport Training and Safety Institute (ATSI)

• A.A.E.’s can earn CEU Credits

• More features, easier access, no equipment to buy and at thesame monthly rates

24-hour training includes:Airports A-Z, ARFF, SIDA, HR, Aviation News Today, Part 139,Legislative Updates, Movement and Non-Movement Area DriverTraining, and much more

For more information, contact Joan Lowden at (703)824-0500, Ext. 137, e-mail [email protected] or Pat Raker at Ext. 125, [email protected]

Introducing…the new, upgraded ANTN Digicast!

www.antndigicast.com

signage


Airport language isa spectacle, aninterface forsocial relationsbetween humansand machines.Signage intensi-

fies social relations—reconfiguringterritories of geophysical/architectur-al space into territories of recognitionthat speak to a productive power oflanguage that is fundamentally non-representational. Airports arewalked, the signs don’t accompany orreflect upon the airport, they aremachined into it. The traveler navi-gates through a highly textuallymediated space where the signs not

only enact semioticised territories butalso directly intervene into the mate-rial machinic processes of traveling.”So wrote Gene Fuller in his researchpaper, “The Arrow—DirectionalSemiotics: Wayfinding in Transit.”

That’s all well and good—andmaybe a bit too esoteric—but when itcomes to installing airport FlightInformation and Display Systems(FIDS) and directional signs—eitheras part of an airport terminal renova-tion or a new terminal constructionproject—the decision for airport man-agers may be succinctly summarizedas this: how to get the most sharp,visible and readable displays at a rea-sonable cost. But one thing seems

clear: the same digital screen tech-nology making its presence known inthe home consumer market, in theform of crystal-clear, flat-screen tele-visions, is quickly establishing asolid presence in the world’s airports.

In some ways, the choices for air-ports are more strictly definedbecause of the specialized require-ments. With the possible exception ofsome of the smaller signs in baggage-claim areas and curbside pickup anddrop-off areas, most signs must be rel-atively large, easily readable from dis-tances as great as 1,000 feet, easilyupdated and durable enough to run24/7. Colors come into play, too.More than eight percent of the malepopulation is color blind and has dif-ficulty distinguishing between redand green. A smaller percentage ofmen suffer from a deficiency in per-ceiving the difference between blueand yellow. Less than one percent ofwomen suffer from any form of colorblindness. It’s not an issue that onemight expect to deal with in terms ofdesigning signs—until you realizethat red is often associated with emer-gency notification—a real possibility

IINN TTHHEE DDIIGGIITTAALL AAGGEESSIIGGNNAAGGEE

AESTHETICS, EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS

AND ADVERTISING REVENUE CAN ALL PLAY

A PART IN IMPLEMENTING NEW SIGNAGE.

AND WHAT ABOUT PLASMA, LCD AND

LED TECHNOLOGY?

BY CLIFTON STROUD

EDITOR


in our security conscious post-9/11environment. Color hue, saturationand brightness are also important.

HIGH STAKESGene Coyne is vice president ofsales with Trans-Lux corporation, amajor manufacturer of displays notonly for airports but also for casinos,television studios and the New YorkStock Exchange—harsh, unforgivingenvironments.

“We’re used to dealing in an air-port environment where there is toomuch at stake for screens to gowrong,” said Coyne.

Trans-Lux has spent the last threeyears installing new signs at MiamiInternational Airport as part of a con-course expansion project. Coynedescribed the signs, installed in theticket-counter areas, internationalarrival terminal, concourses, curbdisplays and baggage-claim areas, as“high-bright, amber, LED displays.”

“White is better for visibility butit’s too expensive,” added Coyne,“and red and green are not viewableby color-blind people.”

Coyne detailed the key advantagesof LED, or light-emitting diode, signs.“The life expectancy of an LED sign isabout 100,000 hours, or about 7.5years if the sign is on 24/7. Plasmahas a much shorter life expectancyand certain images will eventuallyburn on to the screen, much asimages can be burned on to the oldercomputer CRT monitors.”

Although Trans-Lux sells plasmaand LCD (liquid-crystal displays),Coyne makes it clear that they aredesigned for other applications suchas videos, and “you must be right ontop of them to read them. They are

also not designed to display a lot of information, such as you need withan airport flight information display.

“With LED you can use large, 2.1-inch characters and passengers cansee the signs from a distance,” said Coyne.

The Greater Toronto AirportAuthority (GTAA) recently pur-chased nine full-color, LED direc-tional signs for Toronto’s PearsonInternational Airport. They wantedcolor signs in part because the air-lines like to see their logos accurate-ly displayed in full color next totheir flight arrival and departureinformation. Coyne qualified theterm “full color.”

“Our RGB [red-green-blue] dis-play uses 64 colors,” he said, “and aSony Jumbotron—used mostly forvideo—uses 16 million colors orshades. If you’re not doing video,you don’t need that many colors.”

The Toronto signs are brightenough to be “sunlight survivable,”according to Coyne, and to contrastwith the front of the new terminal,which is all glass.

Recent Trans-Lux installations at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport include LED displays in the baggage claim area and arrivals and departures.

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signage


When Toronto was considering theTrans-Lux display purchase andasked about reliability, Coyne toldthem that the same signs had beeninstalled at Miami for more than twoyears and there had not been oneservice call. “They were impressed,”he added.

The signs are slated to be installedby year-end. Coyne pointed out anadditional advantage with Trans-Lux products: the software platformis the same for both indoor and out-door displays.

REVENUE GENERATIONIn addition to the practical aspects ofsignage, generating advertising rev-enue for the airport plays a key rolein certain signs. Frederick Krum, air-port director of the Akron-CantonRegional Airport, described how anew scrolling-type of color, backlitsign has not only improved the aes-thetics of the atrium in the main ter-minal building but has also generatedrevenue for the airport.

“The movement of the displayattracts the eye and provides bettervisibility for the ads, making it a win-win situation for everyone,” he said.A translucent sheet with the adscrolls down and then is replaced byanother sheet. “It’s nice and sharpfrom any angle,” added Krum.

The lack of sharpness from sideangles—and the image burn men-tioned by Trans-Lux’s Coyne—are fre-quently cited as major issues withplasma screens.

Krum has had these scrolling signsinstalled throughout the entire build-ing, and added that it makes the ter-minal building much more attractive.“We took down a lot of nice things tomake space for this sign,” he said. It’sessentially a turn-key operation;Interspace Airport Advertising han-dles all the advertising sales and pro-duction, and the airport in turnreceives 30 percent of the gross rev-enue generated. These signs have alsobeen used in shopping malls andhave been popular in airports inEurope for some time.

A HOLISTIC APPROACHNEC Unified Solutions, long one of theleaders in visual display technology inthe FIDS market, has recently installedLED displays at Denver International,Orlando International and HoustonIntecontinental airports. The companytakes “a holistic approach” to airportsignage, said Russell Young, solutionsmanager for NEC.

“Airport managers are looking for atotal solution approach to messag-ing,” stated Young, who said that gen-erating advertising revenue is impor-tant, as is emergency communica-tions. “Signs give you another medi-um to speak to people who mighthave headphones on or may be deaf.Every display in the airport can befocused on emergency communica-tions if the need arises.” Youngstressed another important pointabout emergency communications,

which is that, additional funds—other than airport funds—can oftenbe found to install these displays.

He is a big believer in LCD tech-nology. “LCD is really establishingitself as a technology leader in thedisplay market and will be the domi-nant player for some time,” Youngstated. He maintains that LED tech-nology is best for outdoor use becauseit is fully sunlight readable, whereasLCD works best for inside, smallervenues. NEC measures the lifespan ofan LCD display by a half-life of60,000 hours—meaning that after thatperiod the display will generate halfof its original brightness—assuming itis running 24/7. NEC will soon intro-duce a 57-inch LCD display.

“Plasma is going the way of thedodo,” emphasized Young. “You justcan’t get away from the burn factor.”

NEC also now offers touchscreensystems that allow the user to choosewhichever language they need, some-thing extremely useful in an interna-tional airport environment.

PLASMA CONSENSUSAdaptive Micro Systems has tradi-tionally constructed dynamic LEDsigns that are used more for outdoorapplications such as roadside andparking areas, but it also makes dis-plays for the ramp, baggage claimareas and flight information.Adaptive has completed recent park-ing area and TSA directional signinstallations at Tampa International,

UK-based Chamaeleon Technologies installed a color-changing LED display for the “Lightwave Wall,” situatedoutside Terminal 3 at London’s Heathrow Airport. According to LED Magazine, the Lightwave Wall is owned byParis-based outdoor advertising contractor JC Decaux and was designed and constructed in Tilbury, Essex byFab Signs. The wall is designed to change color and harmonize with the different ads. “The primary advertisingfacia, and the adjacent curved line of towers carrying the advertiser’s logo, are washed with color using LEDfixtures,” said Chamaelon. The structure is stainless steel, which, according to Chamaelon can be difficult tolight. The lighting had to be strong enough to compete at night with a parking lot, street lights and a gas sta-tion, as well as car headlights.

A WALL OF LIGHT


LED displays at the customs arrival area in Toronto demonstrate GraphixWall technology employed by Trans-Lux.

LED displays are bright, can be seen

from quite a distance and will run

24/7 for years without a problem.

General Mitchell International inMilwaukee and Piedmont TriadInternational airport in Greensboro,North Carolina.

“We’re coming out with some mod-ular products soon—second quarterof next year—that are designed morefor the indoor market,” said GregByzewski, product manager for thecompany. These screens will alsoemploy LED technology.

Take Byzewski’s comments andthose of others and you start to get aconsensus on the viability of plasmascreens. “Although each technologyhas its place, a big plasma screen isnot designed to run for a long periodof time like an LED screen is,” hesaid. “Also, with plasma the imagecan be burned in, which won’tcontinued on pg 28

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continued from pg 25

happen with LED. We’re seeing a smalltrend in passengers commenting that plas-ma screens don’t look that good.”

In sum, planning for new airport signagerequires careful consideration of airport inte-rior and exterior design aesthetics, advertis-ing revenue and technology. Signs are some-thing that most people really don’t give muchthought to (unless they are lost) but that’sonly because of all the careful considerationthat goes into them in the first place. A

As part of a $1.5 billion terminal replacement and enhancementproject, Mineta San Jose International Airport will replace all sig-nage within the next four years. The project will target the airport’snew Terminal B, and the Terminal A expansion, along with a newrental car facility, including garages and roadways. As a result, signsas old as 20 years will be replaced, according to Tom Esch, head ofthe airport’s architectural and mapping section.

The project illustrates the challenges faced by today’s airportmanagers to make signs more visible and informative, often with-in an environment dominated by clutter from advertising, graphicsand artwork.

“All of the signs must comply with a single master plan. Theyhave to be designed with a consistent look in terms of text, fonts,colors and terminology,” Esch remarked. “This includes universal-ly accepted symbols and colors, factoring in placement, and howthe signs interact with other graphic elements as well.”

At Mineta, signage guidelines were developed for specificareas—terminals, curbside and ground transportation areas, aswell as parking facilities and roads. Every sign has to meet detailedsize, graphic and illumination standards based on their position-ing—overhead, wall or floor-mounted.

Other considerations include overall acquisition and life cyclecosts. “The signs must be built, maintained and replaced at thelowest possible costs. This is determined through what we call avalue engineering process,” said Esch.

According to Esch, the airport is considering the use of LED(light emitting diode) and LCD (liquid crystal display) technology

for computer-controlled dynamic signs, which can easily be mod-ified to present different messages, along with emergency com-munications. This would include multi-user flight data, and bag-gage information display systems.

“The selections are being driven by cost and message-displayobjectives,” he explained. “All of the dynamic signs will have infor-mation updating capability, through the work of our AirportTechnology Services Group. This will be especially important asthe airport moves toward a common use environment.”

Dynamic signs also present advertising opportunities, as Esch noted.

“Our policy is that airport-owned units may be used to displayadvertisements or even artwork when they are not being used to

SHOWING THE WAY IN SAN JOSE

provide information, due to low flight activ-ity periods, for example,” he said. “Still, werealize that the purpose of a dynamic sign isto display specific information for the air-port user, and there is a limit to inundatingour customers with advertisements.”

Along this line, Esch pointed out thatdynamic signs could also be configured todisplay what is in a specific area, such as afood court or retail shop complex. “We aregoing to be rebuilding the food court inTerminal A, and we are working with theconcessionaires on the signage that willdraw people there,” he said. “This is part ofa big component with signage: How do weget people to explore what’s in the airportwhile waiting for a departing or arrivingflight?” A — Paul Seidenman

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general aviation gaThe National Association of State Aviation

Officials (NASAO) in early October signedan agreement with the U.S. Department of

Agriculture (USDA) that could help general avia-tion airports counter a growing threat: wildlife andaircraft occupying the same space at the same timeon or near an airport.

According to the USDA, there were more than7,000 wildlife strikes in the U.S. last year, includ-ing about 700 strikes at general aviation airports,costing civil and military aviation more than $650million in damages. What’s worse, Richard A.Dolbeer, the National Coordinator of the USDA’sAirport Safety and Assistance Program, estimatesthat only 20 percent of strikes are reported. He saysthe growth in almost all large bird species and deeris related to “highly successful” wildlife conserva-tion programs, and airports often represent a large“green” area in an otherwise developing landscape.“Airports are a natural magnet for wildlife to cometo,” he says.

A prime example is the exploding population ofnon-migratory Canada Geese in the U.S. Dolbeersays the number increased from one million in1990 to 3.5 million this year. A recent run-in withthe large birds occurred Sunday, October 1, whenaccording to Dolbeer, a Gulfstream V collided with16 Canada Geese just before landing at the MartinState Airport, a GA reliever airport north ofBaltimore, destroying one of its two turbofanengines. The aircraft landed safely.

The memorandum of understanding, which mir-rors an agreement the USDA’s Animal Servicesdivision has had with the Federal AviationAdministration since 1989, aims to give more gen-eral aviation airports access to USDA advice, thelead federal program for managing wildlife issues.Last year, 375 Part 139 airports requested assis-tance, ranging from technical advice to wildliferemoval programs, from USDA’s Wildlife Servicesexperts, but only 213 general aviation airports didthe same. Part 139 airports in part make contact

more often because of the longstanding MOU withthe FAA, said USDA biologist Mike Begier. In total,USDA assisted 674 airports last year, up from just42 in 1990. Wildlife Services also maintains theFAA’s wildlife strike database (http://wildlife-miti-gation.tc.faa.gov/public_html/) and writes a yearlyreport on the results.

Based on legal reviews, Dolbeer said airport oper-ators have to exercise “due diligence in managingwildlife hazards to avoid potentially serious liabil-ity issues.” That means making an assessment ofthe situation and coming up with risk reductionstrategies that may include capturing, relocating ordestroying the animals, actions that may requirefederal permits. Wildlife Services has about 300employees nationwide trained to work with air-ports in their local areas. The professional biolo-gists take a three-day FAA-approved trainingcourse that familiarizes them with working on air-ports. Their advice could sometimes be as simpleas fixing a fence, Dolbeer points out, but it couldalso be more extensive. In those cases, the airportgenerally pays for the effort through a cooperativeservice agreement with the USDA. Either way, ini-tial consultations are free, he adds.

Though the USDA has been developing relation-ships with state-level aviation departments inrecent years, including programs with NorthCarolina, Oregon, Hawaii and Iowa, other statesand individual airports may not be aware of theexpertise available, a problem NASAO is aiming tofix with the MOU. “There are many times when air-ports may be working on these issues,” said RichTurner, director of the Vermont Bureau of Aviationand past president of NASAO, “and withoutUSDA’s help, they may find that it costs them moretime and money down the road.”

Turner, who signed the MOU with USDA in earlyOctober, says information will be available either onNASAO’s website, at www.nasao.org, or on theUSDA’s wildlife damage website, atwww.aphis.usda.gov/subjects/wildlife_damage. A

NASAO Works To Untangle Wildlife And Airports

When British authorities foiled theterrorist plot to destroy airliners overthe Atlantic in August 2006, animmediate ban was placed on liquidand gel-based products in carry-onbaggage. This resulted in a huge spikein checked luggage, causing problemswith some baggage handling systemsthat were not designed to accommo-date the extra volume.

The checked-baggage spike wassimply an indication of things tocome. While the ban on some carry-on items has been eased, there is littledoubt that an increased amount ofbaggage will be stowed in the cargoholds of more airplanes as air travelcontinues to expand. Although thishas the potential to translate intomore lost or delayed baggage, fortu-nately, within the past few years bag-gage-system vendors have been incor-porating technologies that minimize

the chances that a checked bag willnot be on the same plane as its owner.

What complicates things further isthe post-9/11 mandate to implementexplosives detection systems (EDS) atall airports on an accelerated basis.“Since 9/11, EDS has been the gener-ator of changes in baggage trackingsystems, because you can no longerhave conveyor systems that movebags from point A to point B,” saidScott Hyde, deputy manager of plan-ning in the Atlanta office of HNTBCorporation. “With EDS, you have toplan for a system that feeds baggageinto a central location for explosivesscreening, and to continue to track itif it is pulled out for further explo-sives’ residue inspection.”

Along with more efficient handlingof checked baggage, airports aredemanding higher-speed systems.Portec is a Canon City, Colorado-

based company long known for man-ufacturing durable conveyor systemcomponents, including spiral andflat-belt curves—critical componentsthat permit change of direction alonga conveyor system—under theFlomaster brand. According toMichael Anderson, special accountsmanager with Portec, high-speedtechnology represents the wave of thefuture. “New airport facilities arelarger and the baggage must travellonger distances between the termi-nals and gates,” said Anderson.

In 2006 Portec introducedFlomaster Hyperflo, a higher speedmodel. Anderson explained that thenew belt curve is an answer to cus-tomer demand for higher speed com-bined with less maintenance. “Theold Flomaster technology was ade-quate to move baggage at a rate of 800feet per minute. Flomaster Hyperflo

FKI LOGISTEX


baggage handling

By Paul Seidenman and David J. SpanovichContributing Editors

As airports demand higher-

speed baggage conveyance

systems—and as the TSA

demands more security—new

baggage handling systems

are being tested and installed.

The result? Less lost luggage,

higher delivery speeds and

improved security.

was designed to increase that to 2,000feet per minute,” he reported. Toaddress maintenance, Portec incorpo-rated an inner air-supported ball-bearing system, which supports theload of the bag and transports it withless friction than that which is gener-ated by a conventional belt system.

Higher speed mandates better flow-through, especially at bottlenecks inbaggage handling systems, with EDSemerging as one of the most criticaljunctions. To address this, Glidepath,a manufacturer and system integratorbased in Grand Prairie, Texas, beganto develop its GlideSort softwareproduct some six years ago.Implemented for the first time atAdelaide Airport in Australia in2004, it has since been installed atAuckland International Airport and,in the US, at Boise Airport. As JohnGude, the company’s director of busi-ness development explained, it ispossibly the only software packagespecifically designed for repetitivetransactions in the sorting, screening,and reconciliation of outbound bag-gage, in a cost-effective way.

“GlideSort has been designed toelectronically track and providegraphic information on baggage—from check-in through sorting andreconciliation,” Gude said. “It alsoprovides the TSA with a graphics-based, statistical representation of thebag’s security status. When you intro-duce security screening, such as EDS,this becomes an additional trackingissue. Today, the TSA wants to knowwhere the bag is at all times as it goesthrough the sorting system.” Of the

three installations, Boise was the firstone that was a retrofit.

Gude added that the system’sdesign is being oriented to whatGlidepath believes is a future trend inairport design, specifically the com-mon use check-in area. This is beingdriven by the high cost of EDS and anarchitectural trend to put EDS in aseparate area, away from valuable air-port lobby or concourse space.“Passengers will check baggage at onecentral location rather than at indi-vidual airline ticket counters, and thebags will then go through EDS screen-ing as part of the sorting process,”said Gude. Glidepath will allowfewer EDS devices to be used, whileincreasing throughput levels.”

Gude maintains that EDS is thechokepoint of the system because itcan only handle relatively few bagsper minute. “If we start seeing moreaircraft the size of the new AirbusA380, which will carry upwards of1,200 pieces of luggage, this couldcause a real problem in terms of bag-gage handling.”

VISUAL DISPLAYSMany new developments in baggagehandling are making conventionalbar code-based systems more effi-cient. Lyngsoe Systems is activelymarketing its Catellae LIBS (LyngsoeIntegrated Baggage System) to“address the demand to bring greaterefficiency to the flow-controlprocess.” As Poulsen noted, the sys-tem is designed for small, mediumand large airports and was intro-duced at Stockholm’s Arlanda

Airport in early 2006. LyngsoeSystems provides the informationtechnology software and is the inte-grator of the software and IT system.

With Catellae LIBS, data is receivedfrom the baggage chute-allocationcomputer and manual encoding sta-tions. The processed data is thengraphically displayed on a PC screen,presenting a real-time presentation ofbaggage-flow conditions. “It showsthe process time involved with theflow and spots the location of anybottlenecks. In that way, the operatorcan spot the location of any problemsand address them,” said Poulsen.

He added that Catellae LIBS isspecifically designed to addressanother issue involving many bag-gage handling systems.

“As the systems have expanded atindividual airports, multiple suppli-ers have been involved, resulting inislands of solutions that won’t worktogether. With Catellae LIBS, we havebeen able to combine informationfrom different databases and providea total baggage-flow-information pic-ture to the airport manager. Lack of atotal overview of the various portionsof baggage handling systems is amajor contributor to lost baggage.”

KINDER AND GENTLERNot every problem with baggage han-dling requires a high-tech solution.Each year millions of dollars inclaims are filed against airlines fordamage to luggage and its contents.Siemens Energy and Automation, one


Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta’s hold-bag screening facility, designed by HNTB.

baggage handling


of the world’s largest manufacturersand integrators of baggage handlingsystems, believes that much of thisdamage is due to the use of pusherarms, which deploy a great deal offorce to divert—or push—baggagefrom one conveyor belt stream toanother. To address this problem,Siemens introduced its High SpeedDiverter (HSD) several years ago.

According to Marco Oropeza, man-ager of marketing and business devel-opment for the company’s AirportLogistics Division, the Siemens HSDhas been certified by theTransportation Security Administra-tion (TSA) for use in high-speed bag-gage-screening matrices employed forexplosives and weapons detection.Using a single, one-horsepower drivemotor, and few moving parts, the HSDis capable of diverting 80 bags perminute. That rate is predicated onbags that are 33 inches long, travelingat 380 feet per minute.

In early October, Siemens intro-duced an improved HSD, which,according to Oropeza, employs “morerobust construction and greater mod-ularity for easier maintenance.”There are 1,200 HSDs now in use at28 airports, of which 24 are in the US,with the remainder at Montreal,Calgary, Mexico City and Cancun.

Siemens expects to introduce a setof standard HSD configuration solu-tions by year-end, in order to providea “more cost effective system for theindividual customer.” These newdesign packages will be developedfor implementation in existing as

well as new systems provided bySiemens as well as other vendors.

SECURITY CONCERNSFKI Logistex is implementing a RadioFrequency Identification (RFID)-based screening and tracking systemfor baggage sortation and explosivesdetection at Las Vegas McCarranInternational Airport, under an $8million, first-phase contract. Slatedfor completion by year-end 2006, itwill be the world’s first system to useInternational Air Transport Associ-ation (IATA)-standard 920 Hz passiveUHF RFID-embedded luggage tags forautomatic identification and trackingof all out-bound baggage in the sorta-tion and explosives detectionprocess.

Also in the process of completing amassive RFID-based baggage han-dling project is Lyngsoe Systems, ofAars, Denmark. The companydescribes itself as a “software manu-facturer and systems integrators oflogistics solutions for monitoring andautomating processes in complexlogistics chain environments.” Themulti-phase program, which com-menced at Hong Kong InternationalAirport in September 2004, is sched-uled for completion in 2007.According to Jan Poulsen, sales man-ager for the company, Lyngsoe teamedwith Symbol Technology, which issupplying the system’s readers andantennas. Poulsen added that theRFID tags are now being applied onlyto the bags, but by the end of this yearthe printouts issued to passengers on

check-in will also be embedded withRFID chips containing informationmatching those on the baggage.

“We believe that RFID is the com-ing technology for baggage handlingand that IATA will mandate, or atleast recommend, that all airportsimplement it within the near future,”said Poulsen.

Lyngsoe Systems has projected thatRFID baggage-tracking technologywill provide a reduction in lost bag-gage of as much as a 40 percent,because the technology permits moreprecise flow and tracking. But theadvantages of RFID don’t end withthe tracking function. “Because of therestrictions on what can be carriedaboard an aircraft, more baggage isbeing checked and we are runninginto a capacity problem,” Poulsennoted. “Because RFID is providing amore efficient IT solution, and greaterautomation to the tracking of bags, itwill add capacity without having toincrease the mechanical system.”

For all its promise, RFID has notbeen adapted on a wide-scale basisdue to cost, according to HNTB’sHyde. “Bar code is still the standard,although its effectiveness often comesdown to printer maintenance andreadability,” he said. “A bar code tagis less than six cents, but an RFID tagruns about 18 cents. And, there’s a lotof debate about how much informa-tion should be included on the RFIDchip and that adds to cost. It’s a lotless expensive to put in the scanningarrays.”

But Hyde added that as the retailsector pushes for greater use of RFID,it is likely to drive the costs down andairlines may more readily embrace the

FKI Logistex’ second generation space-

saving baggage claim unit system is

designed to provide high passenger-vol-

ume service with minimal maintenance.

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technology. “We are getting closer tothe day when the airlines will useRFID because it’s a much more reli-able way of screening bags.”

UNPROVEN TECHNOLOGYIn spite of the enhanced capabilitiesnew high-technology baggage han-dling systems may offer, airport man-agers and their project consultantsare taking a wait and see approach.

“We prefer to use what has provento be low risk and cost effective,” saidSteve Grossman, director of aviationfor the Port of Oakland, operator ofOakland International Airport. Hepointed out that among the risks withany new system is flexibility, espe-cially as the volume of checked bagsfluctuates. “Any new system has tobe able to cope with fluctuations involume, as we saw with the recentrestrictions on carry-on items.”

Larry Krauter, deputy executivedirector of Lehigh Valley InternationalAirport in Pennsylvania, explainedthat his airport has decided “not tochase or try to get ahead of” the newbaggage handling technologies.

“Our policy has been to wait untilthey mature before making a deci-sion,“ he said. “We cannot afford tobe wrong about the direction thetechnology is going, since any newsystem we install will have to carryus for a long time.”

Matthias Frenz, president ofDenver-based Logplan, the airportconsulting firm which oversaw thedesign and implementation of a $95million baggage handling system atDenver International Airport, specifi-cally cited RFID as a much discussedtechnology, but not, in his view, a

practical solution for baggage sort-ing—right now. He pointed out thatDenver’s system, which has been on-stream since December 2005,employs optical barcode readers butis readily convertible to RFID, shouldthe airport adopt that technology.

“RFID is currently more compatiblewith a tray system because you onlyneed to apply the chips to the trayone time, and the tray—which con-tains the baggage—stays within theairport system,” Frenz explained.“It’s still too costly to apply RFIDchips to individual bags.”

Still, the potential benefits of RFIDapplication to baggage handling areundisputable. Patrick Marino, projectmanager-special systems forCincinnati-based PB Aviation, pre-dicted that RFID will greatly reducebaggage loss and its associated costs.Nonetheless, he agrees that there is aneed for the technology to be provenwithin the baggage handling context,“in order to minimize risk and showthat it is a cost effective solution.”

Marino, who is involved with thenew baggage system installationunder San Jose’s Norman MinetaInternational Airport’s Terminal AreaImprovement Program, added thatwhile RFID has been used effectivelyin materials handling, that’s no guar-antee it can be seamlessly transi-tioned to baggage handling. “Apply-ing RFID to baggage handling at anairport is a different application fromother industries, although the tech-nology is promising.”

This raises a parallel issue, specifi-cally, the implementation of inlinebaggage systems, for which the newtechnology is considered integral.

Inline systems are being designed topermit explosives detection andscreening on a centralized basis. Theproblem is cost

“The money to do this is woefullyinadequate right now,” said LarryKrauter at Lehigh Valley InternationalAirport. “It’s a very expensive processand a lot of airports don’t have themoney or the capacity to float a lot ofdebt to be able to do this.”

Krauter explained that at LehighValley International Airport, going toan inline system would mandate aterminal expansion and reconfigura-tion. “That has made us very circum-spect with regard to investing in aninline system,” he said.

Oakland International Airport’sGrossman stated that, if an inline bag-gage handling and explosive detectionsystem were to be installed in everyairport, the cost would be over $3.4billion. “There is no federal funding todo this at all airports,” he said.

In the summer of 2005, the airportimplemented an inline baggage-screening section at its Terminal Two,which is used exclusively bySouthwest Airlines. “Since they arethe only airline using that terminal, itwas a very clean kind of an installa-tion and operation,” Grossmanexplained. “But for Terminal One,where we have 10 to 12 carriers, wedetermined that a non-inline solutionwas the best way to go. When youstart commingling a lot of bags for dif-ferent destinations—on different air-lines—an inline system can be verycomplicated and more expensive toimplement and operate.”

Still, PB Aviation’s Marino arguesthat the industry will eventuallymove toward inline systems, espe-cially as more airports assume thebaggage handling function from indi-vidual air carriers. “If the designs cangive the central systems flexibility, itwill result in reduced costs for bag-gage handling. In fact, with today’stechnology we can build inline sys-tems that are compatible with bag-gage handled for multiple airlinesand destinations.” A

FKI Logistex’ RFID scanning array scans bags as they pass down the conveyor

on their way to the baggage makeup area. FKI is implementing an RFID-based

screening and tracking system for baggage sortation and explosives detection

—slated for completion by year-end—at Las Vegas McCarran Int’l Airport.

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ineta San José International Airport, as partof its $1.5 billion Terminal AreaImprovement Program, will more than dou-ble retail, food and beverage square footage

for a total of 34,000 square feet of concessionsspace before and after security checkpoints in thenew Terminal B and its North Concourse and inremodeled Terminal A.

The airport is in negotiations with a firm thatwill handle design and construction of the termi-nal area improvements.

Concessions currently are located pre-securityand post-security in Terminal C and post-securityin Terminal A. Current plans call for maximizingservices in the areas where passenger impact willbe the greatest, according to airport spokespersonRich Dressler.

“Studies have shown us that passengers want toclear the security checkpoints and find their gatesbefore taking the opportunity to shop and to dineat the airport. Some basic amenities will be avail-able pre-security and will be identified by thehired consultants after their studies have beencompleted,” said Dressler.

Airport officials plan to incorporate a local lookand feel to the new concessions, and have hiredconsultants from the Center for AirportManagement to make recommendations for designand concepts for each location. After location andtypes of concessions have been identified, the air-

port will issue a request for proposals to select ven-dors, expected to be issued in Spring 2007.

Meanwhile, to promote greater use of existingconcessions, the airport has unveiled an extensive“Get it at the Airport” marketing campaign aimedat drawing travelers’ attention to the choices forfood and retail items available at the airport.Colorful banners and signs with catchy headlineslike “Better refuel before you fly” and “Next Food:1,500 Miles” have been strategically placed aroundthe terminals, touting the variety of shoppingopportunities, and encouraging travelers to trythem. Campaign brochures provide a map to alllocations in the airport.

The campaign is a partnership between the air-port and its primary concessionaires, HMSHostand DFS North America, which contributed fundsto support the campaign. A

rsretail spotlight

Expands, LaunchesCampaign To Promote

Concessions

San José International Airport San José International Airport

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RETAIL BRIEFS

Hudson Group and its partners have been selected toupgrade the news/gift and specialty retail concessionprogram at Nashville International Airport. Theauthority Sept. 20 awarded a 10-year contract for allavailable retail space to Hudson and its partners—J&B Enterprises, CBR Inc. and Olympic Supply Inc.Joseph DiDomizio, executive vice president and chiefoperating officer, Hudson Group, said, “We aredelighted to be coming to Nashville. This is a newmarket for us, which we expect will generate addi-tional revenues of some $200 million over the life ofthe contract.”…HMSHost Corp. recently extended itscontract to develop new dining options at SouthwestFlorida International. The contract, which extendsthrough 2018, generates $20 million in annual salesand expands HMSHost’s presence in the state ofFlorida. HMSHost in 2006 will invest $1.7 million in

expanding its existing retail, food and beverage con-cessions programs at Southwest Florida International.New food and beverage options at the airport willinclude a Quiznos, Nathan’s Famous and GreatAmerican Bagel… The Airport Minority AdvisoryCouncil (AMAC) has named the Wayne County AirportAuthority as the winner of AMAC’s 2006 AirportConcessions Award for meeting or exceeding itsDisadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) programgoal for at least two years at Detroit MetropolitanWayne County Airport (DTW). In fiscal year 2004, theairport authority achieved its goal of 19 percent ofconcession revenues (including car rentals) by DBEcompanies ($52.3 million). In fiscal year 2005, theauthority more than doubled its goal of 20 percentwhen the DBE companies reached 41 percent of con-cession revenues (excluding car rentals) or $61.9 mil-lion.…BAA USA has introduced a new publicationwith information on Airmall shopping atBaltimore/Washington International Thurgood MarshallAirport, Boston Logan International and PittsburghInternational. Dubbed Runway Magazine, the publica-tion is a tabloid newspaper with quick-read details onAirmall offerings at the three airports. A

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With all the years of experience that airports have in baggagehandling, the complexity of the process is still surprising.Compared with industrial manufacturing, the limited

degree to which the end of the line has been mechanized isremarkable. The sensitivities of the product and the tight timeschedules in the process play a part in this. When the global char-acter of aviation and the many parties involved are added, thecomplexity of baggage handling becomes clear.

For the average passenger, the visibility of the baggage systemis limited. On the input side, it is the check-in counter where thesuitcase is handed in before departure. On the output side, wherethe baggage is collected again, only the reclaim carousel or belt isvisible to the public. The most complex part takes place behindclosed doors.

In the loading and unloading of an aircraft there are importantdifferences in the way baggage is transported: loose, usuallyemployed for narrowbody aircraft, and unit load devices (ULDs),which are used for widebody aircraft.

When unloading an aircraft, loose baggage is put on ramp cartsby hand, driven to the load unit (LU) unloading position and thenput on a conveyor belt by hand. This belt goes directly to thereclaim area, where the passenger picks up the baggage. For pas-sengers transferring to another flight, the baggage is unloadedonto another belt and goes through the sorting process on its wayto another aircraft. The ULDs are mechanically transferred to dol-lies with high-loaders and subsequently driven to the LU unload-ing position, where the baggage is taken out of the ULD by handand entered into the sorting process.

When loading an aircraft, the opposite takes place. Baggagefrom the sorting process is loaded into a ULD or onto a ramp cartand then driven to the aircraft. Here the ULD or baggage is loadedonto the aircraft, for which human hands still are needed in thecase of loose baggage.

This operation is functional and used all over the world.Nevertheless, it still has a vulnerable link: the input and out-put points of the sorting process (LU loading and unloading).These steps have remained unchanged for decades and are car-ried out by hand. The physical burden for employees is con-siderable. The lifting index, measured according to the

National Institute for OccupationalSafety and Health (NIOSH) method,results in a value more than twice thelevel allowed for both loading andunloading in the sorting process.Suitcases with large, unknown weightvariations are disastrous for the backand arms.

There are other reasons for processimprovements. Safety regulations are

By Henk Brandsma

RoboticAutomation

StudiesSchiphol

For Baggage Handling Tasks

KLM and Schiphol Airporthave implemented a pilotrobotic baggage loading

and unloading systemthat both lightens theload for employees andautomates the baggage-

handling process.

becoming stricter all the time. Withfewer hands on the suitcases, theprocess becomes more orderly andeasier to control. The continuity andspeed of baggage handling is animportant benchmark of the qualityand therefore the assessment of anairport. Finally, cost control and effi-cient use of space are importantissues for any airport.

Sorting Solutions Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport andKLM started a pilot project for mech-anized baggage unloading earlier thisyear. Looking at the first flow chart,the first point can be scored at theunloading of the ramp cart and ULD.Mechanization of this part of theprocess is a blessing for baggage-han-dling employees. A basic solution for

mechanized unloading is based onthe principle of emptying the con-tainer or trolley in layers by tilting it.Grenzebach Onero, the manufacturerof the loading units and the robotsused to unload the baggage, has trans-lated this principle into a prototypeable to unload ramp carts. Moderniekis building a prototype for both cartsand containers. The operator’s job is


baggage handling


limited to a controlling task—cor-recting baggage separation andremoving stuck pieces when neces-sary. Odd-sized baggage will beremoved manually.

The output side of the sortingprocess consists of carousels, lateralsor chutes from which operators loadthe baggage onto ramp carts or con-tainers. Schiphol Airport, TebodinEngineers and Grenzebach Onerocooperatively looked for a solutioninvolving a robot. Several conceptswere reviewed. Different kinds ofgrippers and image-recognition soft-ware have been developed, with reli-ability, filling ability and load capac-ity as the main criteria. After severalprototypes and six months of testing,KLM decided to integrate a pilot

installation in the Schiphol handlingprocess. Both Schiphol and KLMreport positive results to such anextent that large-scale implementa-tion is now considered feasible.

Simulations and RobotsStand-alone tests can have excellentresults, but the success of a solution isdetermined by the effectiveness with-in the process as a whole. A “plug andplay” solution does not work with thiskind of innovative solution. Fine-tun-ing of the loading units, the buffer sizefor baggage and loading units, whichbaggage does and which does not gothe early baggage storage—all theseissues are related to controls. Thephysical realization also raises a num-ber of questions and issues to solve.

LU Unloading:• Difference between ramp carts andULDs on dollies;

• Working with individual unitsinstead of trains of carts or dollies;

• Mixing of normal and odd-sizedbaggage;

• Fitting into existing situation;

• Handling of individual empty cartsand ULDs.

LU Loading:• How to make automatic loadingeconomically feasible;

• Loading per subsortation, flight,several flights;

• Loading from early baggage storageor on supply basis;

• Does the right LU arrive at the righttime at the right robot;

• Which filling degree is necessary.

Answering these questions andintegrating mechanized loading andunloading into the baggage-handlingprocess demands a careful approachand thorough knowledge of processand product. To help with this aspectof the project, KLM created “loadfiles”—computer simulations basedon the number of bags processed,arrival and departure times, sortationcriteria, etc.

“To determine whether we coulddeploy the robots to a sufficient

Baggage items are transported toward the loading position.Bag characteristics such as weight and identity are trans-ferred. Just before the pick-up position of the robot, avolumetric scan of the baggage item is performed to deter-mine orientation and size. The robot control anticipates onthe orientation data by twisting the gripper at the take-over conveyor. Thus an aligned position on the gripper isaccomplished and is the ideal orientation to fit in theloading pattern. The ideal fit is determined by combiningthe bag data and the actual status of the pile of bags insidethe loading unit. A scanning device that analyzes the insideof the loading unit before each loading action establishesthe actual status. The packing program decides where thebest position of the next bag will be.


degree, we simulated differentloads,” said KLM Project Manager AdKokshoorn. “We started with a sim-ple model, which later became moreand more refined. When it becameclear that mechanization was feasi-ble, we started organizing the processon which the pilot was based.”

At airports, systems are changed orexpanded in existing processes. Toachieve a useful application of newsystems in both loading and unload-ing, a closer look at the process wasneeded. Apart from the material flow,process management and planningalso need careful consideration.

“Together with KLM and Tebodinwe have developed an innovativebaggage handling area in which thesenew elements have been integrated,”said Schiphol research and develop-ment consultant Mark Hullegie.

“With a diagrammatic approach wecame up with an outline of all thesystem parts, which was used to draftthe set of requirements.”

Flow Charts The first step in planning the newsystem is to develop a flowchart,where all interrelations and theposition of the new units becomeclearly visible. In the case ofSchiphol, KLM, based on the flow-chart, decided to integrate the newbaggage claim system into the latestairport expansion.

A feasibility check is the last steptoward formulating requirements.The spots have to be made concreteby filling them in with mechanicalcomponents. This is then incorporat-ed in a layout sketch, which can beused as an example for the final plan.

While making the draft and the lay-out, the linking elements’ influencewill prove to be substantial and omis-sions can appear. A careful analysis isneeded, not only of the baggageflows, but also of the LU flows. Theempty loading units have to be trans-ported and stored, and the right unithas to end up at the right loadingpoint at the right time. A combinationof carts with their own specificundercarriages and ULDs with dolliesmakes it complex. KLM searched for auniform solution and found it in aStandard Loading Unit, which can betransported on a dolly just like a ULD.

In the years to come, Schiphol willadapt the process and systems in sev-eral baggage-handling areas to preparefor mechanization. Robots will be usedfor the newest south baggage-handlingarea at Schiphol. Where technology isnot yet sufficiently crystallized, spacehas been allotted in the basic design ofadditional baggage-handling areas.

Each process has its own character-istics. Depending on these character-istics, a tailor- made solution can bedeveloped for every situation, whichcontributes to process improvement.This course can be lengthy and com-plex. Schiphol Airport, KLM andTebodin together have developedand realized a new and innovativebaggage-handling concept, withwhich Schiphol has increased itsefficiency. A

Henk Brandsma is a senior consultant with Tebodin

Consultants & Engineers.

A schematic representation of the robot cell for Schiphol

Airport’s baggage area.

asairport spotlight


Huntsville International Airport is undergoing an $87 million improvementprogram to meet expected traffic growth over the next 10 years. The air-port is operated by the Port of Huntsville, which includes more than 6,000

acres and is comprised of the airport, the International Intermodal Center and theJetplex Industrial Park.

Among improvements under construction or in the design stage at HuntsvilleInternational are a new air traffic control tower, a passenger screening and publicwaiting area expansion, a concessions area expansion, a new parking deck addi-tion and a flight information systems upgrade. All projects are expected to becompleted in 2008.

The $23.2 million air traffic control tower, which is currently under construc-tion, will be 219 feet high compared with 96 feet for the existing control tower.

• Huntsville International has two parallel runways, one 10,000feet and one 12,600 feet, with a 5,000-foot separation, allowingfor simultaneous operations during instrument conditions. Thefacility is equipped for Category I operations.• Huntsville International is home to the second longest runwayin the southeast United States.• Huntsville International offers a free fare-finding service atwww.HuntsvilleHotTicket.com. The service has 28,000 membersand also provides special deals by email.

• Huntsville International is home to the Sheraton Four PointsHotel, with 146 guest rooms and more than 6,000 square feet ofmeeting space.• The Port of Huntsville’s International Intermodal Center is a U.S.Customs Port of Entry that provides a single-hub location forreceiving, transferring, storing and distributing international anddomestic cargo via air, rail and highway. • Jetplex Industrial Park features direct runway access, a Foreign-Trade Zone, U.S. Customs officials and brokers on site and lotsfrom four acres to 375 acres.

Fun Facts

HuntsvilleInternational Airport

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Airport officials said the tower has been strategically locat-ed on the airfield for maximum growth potential and is100 percent federally funded.

The passenger screening and public waiting area proj-ect will add 20,000 square feet to these areas, along with200 additional seats for public waiting, a new publicobservation area, new restrooms with a family restroomand upgraded flight information display systems, amongother features.

The food and beverage concession expansion will add5,000 square feet of concessions on the concourse and inthe terminal building, in addition to “grab and go”

concessions at the security screening and public waiting areas.

The $17.96 million parking deck addition, currently inthe design phase, will provide an additional 1,330 coveredparking spaces, new exit toll plazas, more covered parkingfor rental cars, and enhanced traffic flow circulation.

The flight information display system (FIDS) upgradewas completed in September 2006 at a cost of $863,000.The new FIDS provides real-time FAA flight informationon modern flat-screen displays at terminal front parking,where none previously existed, and throughout the termi-nal and concourse. A


By John Croft Contributing WriterAt the FAA Technical Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey

airbus

For A380Potential Pavement Problems

and ATC Delays

FAA Simulates

Unbeknownst to the general popula-tion, the Airbus A380 super jumbo isalready running scheduled service toU.S. airports. No one has seen itbecause the arrivals, departures andtaxiing have been taking place withina computer simulation lab at theFederal Aviation Administration’sWilliam J. Hughes Technical Center,adjacent to the Atlantic City (NewJersey) International Airport.

The results of the virtual tests arereal, however, and are helping air-ports and regulators come to gripswith airspace and airport infrastruc-ture impacts that could arise whenthe 1.2-million-pound gross weight,555-passenger double-deckers beginserving a handful of major U.S. air-ports in 2007 or 2008.

Hot at the moment are estimates forarrival delays at airports with A380

service, following the November2005 decree by the International CivilAviation Organization (ICAO) thataircraft following an A380 on arrivalmaintain significantly larger separa-tion than what is required by today’sstandards. Though airliners can typi-cally fly as close as four nauticalmiles from each other on approach,regulators wanted increased spacingfor the A380, at least initially, due to

EM COMPANY/H. GOUSSE


the potential effects of wake turbu-lence from the new aircraft.

“The basic question is, ‘Can the air-port function?’” said Joseph Richie, asenior mathematician in the TechCenter’s Capacity Modeling andAnalysis Group (CMAG). Richie wasone of the primary users of a family ofcomputer simulation programs FAAfirst developed in the 1970s and hasused in recent years to investigate thepotential impact of unusually largeaircraft on terminal-area airspace andairport operations, arrival and depar-ture delays and traffic flow rates. Theheavyweights, also known as NewLarge Aircraft (NLA), include aircraftlike the A380, AN-124, AN-225 andthe U.S. military’s C-5 Galaxy.

The Tech Center’s primary tool forassessing A380 delays is the AirfieldDelay Simulation Model (ADSIM), aprogram that predicts hourly or dailydelays experienced by aircraft, aswell as travel times from gate to run-way and vice versa for a specified air-port, among other information.ADSIM also generates output FAAcan then transform into 24-hour fast-time animation files, accurate enoughthat some airports are planning to usethem for training purposes. The ani-mations include symbology for differ-ent aircraft sizes, and show the move-

ment of all aircraft to and from thegates of interest.

CMAG has been using a relatedsimulation model since 1999 to com-pute annual service volume (ASV)studies for regulators and lawmakersto evaluate the need for new runwaysor other infrastructure. The group hasdelivered 112 of the studies, whichestimate an airport’s capacity anddelay per aircraft, said JenniferMorris, acting manager of CMAG. Hergroup is composed of 13 federalemployees, a blend of operationsresearch analysts, computer special-ists and mathematicians.

Along with A380 studies, airportsalso request CMAG’s help to runwhat-if scenarios for future projectsand to investigate the effects of infra-structure changes on operations.CMAG recently completed de-icingarea scenarios for DenverInternational Airport and is perform-ing tradeoff analyses on a possibleseventh runway. Also underway is astudy for Anchorage InternationalAirport to look at the impact of oper-ating the A380.

TEST CASE AT MEMPHISCMAG’s launch customer for NLAstudies was Memphis InternationalAirport, in 2001. For Memphis, the

NLA of concern at the time was the C-5 Galaxy; the Tennessee Air NationalGuard unit at the airport was planningto relocate its facilities on the airportand replace its C-141s with C-5s. (Themilitary retired the C-141 from serviceearlier this year). In 2002, the airportasked for an evaluation of the A380 aswell because FedEx had just placedorders for 10 cargo versions of thejumbo. FedEx has its main U.S. oper-ations hub in Memphis.

To customize ADSIM for Memphisor any other airport, CMAG analystsspend as many as three months gath-ering materials and working with theairport and air traffic controllers tocharacterize the airport and a typicalday of airport demand. Data includethe types of aircraft that use the air-port in the present and the projectedfleet mix for the future, the currentand projected number and types ofdaily operations, airport layout—including gates—and preferred run-ways and routing for aircraft on theground or in the air, starting 20 milesfrom the airport. Analysts also workwith airports and air traffic con-trollers to determine the likelyapproach and departure paths thoseaircraft would take and what percent-age might be operating by visual orinstrument flight rules.

Computer simulations developed for the Airbus A380

at the FAA Technical Center will help airports deal with

the increased weight load and longer in-trail spacing

mandated by ICAO.

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(Left) The A380 has a gross weight of

1.2 million pounds and will carry 555 to

800 passengers. (Right) The FAA’s

Capacity Modeling and Analysis Group at

the William J. Hughes Technical Center.

Front row (left to right): Emily Guerrios,

Janice Kay Cobb and Helen Monk. Center:

Cassandra Miller and Ji-on Brown. Rear:

Andrew Lamb, Douglas Frye, Jennifer

Morris, Gary Renauro and Joseph Richie.

airbus


Coming up with how the airportwill look on a typical day in thefuture is no small task. According toMorris, the group begins with a typi-cal day for the current demand, usu-ally selecting an average day in thepeak month of the year. CMAG deter-mines the baseline demand using theOfficial Airline Guide plus variousFAA sources to capture unscheduled,military and general aviation opera-tions. The design team then agrees onthe future demands based on theFAA’s Terminal Area Forecast, masterplan, previous studies or other rele-vant sources. Analysts then increasethe traffic based on the characteristicsand fleet mix of the forecast demand.

Once the input data is finalized, thegroup runs a variety of simulations,generating delay computations for atypical day, including arrival, depar-ture, taxi-in, taxi-out, total daily andtotal yearly delays, with and withoutNLAs in the mix.

For Memphis, CMAG completedsimulations for 2001 (the baseline),2005 (with two C-5 arrivals anddepartures per day), and for 2010(two C-5 and two A380 arrivals anddepartures a day). The results,according to Richie, showed thatMemphis would be able to handle the

NLA “without any difficulties”through 2010. CMAG has not yetbeen tasked to evaluate the more con-servative approach spacing criteriafor the A380, though the airport hasrequested that the study be repeated.

SFO SIMULATIONSAnother facility that will see a mod-est but steady increase in A380 serv-ice in the near future is San FranciscoInternational Airport. CMAG beganmodeling the situation in February2004, using ADSIM to analyze possi-ble delays in airport operationsthrough 2025, assuming there will betwo arrivals and two departures outof a total of 1,010 daily operations in2006 (the study was completed beforethe most recent A380 delivery delayswere announced); five arrivals andfour departures out of 1,134 opera-tions in 2015, and eight arrivals andeight departures out of 1,293 opera-tions in 2025. Since the analysis wascompleted before the ICAO in-trailseparation decision, CMAG simulat-ed a minimum aircraft separation offour nautical miles, a figure providedby air traffic controllers.

The study, completed lastSeptember, showed that the A380would have no “negative impact” onthe operations of the airport for theforecast period for any of the runwayalternatives considered. “The differ-ences between the baseline cases andthe NLA cases are so small that it isconsidered to be statistically insignif-icant,” wrote Richie and co-workers,Babulal Shah and Robert Holladay. Infact, the total delay time with A380sin service is slightly less than thealternative (see figure 1). LikeMemphis, SFO wants to re-run the

model with the ICAO spacing, inaddition to looking at the effects of ahigh-speed turn-off option.

JFK SPACING SCENARIOSThough somewhat counterintuitive,increasing in-trail spacing, at least inone case, had a limited impact onperformance. For a study of John F.Kennedy International Airport,CMAG simulated A380 impacts withand without the added spacing. Asthe work had started before the ICAOdecree, the group first simulated air-port operations with the same stan-dard separation criteria it used forSan Francisco: four-nautical-milespacing between an A380 in the leadand a heavy aircraft like the Boeing747, Boeing 777 and A340 behind,five nautical miles for an aircraft likethe Boeing 757 and other large air-craft like the A320 and Boeing 737,and six nautical miles for anythingsmaller. The study assumed two dailyA380 arrivals and two departures in2006 or 2007, nine in 2015 and 16 in2025. Results were similar to SanFrancisco, in that differences in totaldelays were statistically insignificantwith and without the A380. The sim-ulations assume the NLA flies at anapproach speed of 145 kts.

Following the ICAO directive,CMAG updated the simulation withthe new parameters: 6.5 nauticalmiles spacing for heavies, 9 nauticalmiles for the B757 and large aircraftand 10 nautical miles for all others.The difference in results was notice-able but not striking: 1.8 percentmore total delays for 2006; 2.99 per-cent more for 2015 and 5.67 percentmore in 2025 (see figure 2). A

J F K T o ta l D e la y (m in ) IC A O s e p a ra tio n

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Figure 1 Figure 2

Gordon Hayhoe’s playground is a 1,200-foot-long metal warehousewith no environmental controls. Though somewhat uncomfortablein the sweltering summer heat, the lack of creature comforts is per-fectly suitable for a facility that tests how aircraft wheels treat theoutdoor surfaces on which they roll.

Though the FAA’s computer simulations for airport delays have sofar revealed a minor impact from A380 operations in the near term,Hayhoe, manager of the FAA’s National Airport Pavement Test Facility,and his team are working to ensure the same will be true for asphaltand concrete taxiways and parking areas, as aircraft like the A380—those with wheel loads in the 60,000-plus-pound zone—become amore common sight at airports.

In tests starting next spring, Hayhoe and his team plan to taxi atriple-tandem gear alongside a dual-tandem gear—similar in con-figuration to one half of the A380’s main landing gear—attached tothe facility’s 70-foot-wide gantry. The gantry will move forward andbackward at three miles per hour over a 60-by-120-foot-long testpavement for eight to 12 hours each workday, pressing down eachof the 10 wheels with 60,000 pounds of force (about the weight thateach of the A380’s 20 main wheels will support at gross weight) untilthe asphalt fails. Failure will be indicated by upheaval of the materi-al outside the tire tracks. Airbus previously had run similar taxiingtests of an A380 landing gear configuration, but had stopped beforethe pavement reached full structural failure.

FAA’s test is not designed to flush out potential faults with theA380, but rather to better characterize how flexible surfacesrespond to the new generation of aircraft with the highest wheelloads ever seen in commercial aviation. Top contenders for thewheel-loading crown include the A380, the Boeing 777-300ER andthe Airbus A340-600HGW, all of which weigh in at more than775,000 pounds at maximum takeoff weight (see table). FAAassumes that the main gear handles about 95 percent of the weightof the aircraft, though the numbers vary, according to Hayhoe.

As for the effects of the massive aircraft on pavement, it’s not assimple as dividing the weight by the number of wheels. There areinteractions between the wheels and differences due to the geome-try of the gear; four-wheel versus six-wheel gears, for example.While experts agree FAA’s guidelines are conservative in terms ofhow thick a layer of asphalt should be, no one knows how muchconservatism is built in to the numbers. For example, the currentFAA guidelines for pavement strength could limit an aircraft with 20wheels—like the A380—to a maximum takeoff weight of less thanone million pounds when operating on an existing pavement.

The result of an overly conservative model is unnecessary pavingcosts. “The failure mode for flexible pavement is very poorly under-stood,” said Hayhoe. As a result, design guidelines use a “conser-vative factor of safety,” he said, which can result in more costs whenbuilding a runway or applying an overlay.

The test next year will be the first to run until the pavement breaksunder multiple-gear loading, a condition that will yield more infor-mation, helping better correlate modeled results with reality. “Wetake it all the way,” Hayhoe said. A

Rolling A380 Thunder

Aircraft Max Gross (lb) %Weight on Wheel Load Main Gear (lbs)

B777-200 Baseline 537,000 95.4 42,692

B777-300ER 777,000 92.5 59,894

B747-400 873,000 93 50,743

B747-400ER 913,000 93 53,068

B747-8 963,000 93 55,974

B787-8 482,000 95 57,238

B787-9 542,000 95 64,362

A340-600 807,330 93 62,568

A340-600HGW 840,400 93 65,131

A380-800 1,239,000 95 58,852

A380-800F 1,305,000 95 61,988

atairportech


Wireless VideoSystem MonitorsAnd Tracks AircraftMovementsOne of the issues airports have to dealwith on a daily basis is keeping trackof inbound traffic. This is especiallytrue for smaller, general aviation air-ports that may not have the sophisti-cated means or the around-the-clockstaff to track every aircraft movement.Establishing an accurate log of thenumber of aircraft arrivals each day isessential in applying for federal andstate funding, levying landing fees,enforcing noise abatement proce-dures, and now in many cases forsecurity reasons. According to someestimates, 10 to 15 percent of all air-craft that land daily at airports are notaccounted for.

Enter TTI Wireless, a companyfounded by Dale Albright and hisfather, Tom Albright shortly after9/11. Dale Albright, who has a degreein applied physics and applied math-ematics and has served in a manage-ment capacity with several telecom-munications companies, serves asvice president and chief technologyofficer of the firm. Determining theneed for a security system that wouldlog and track the N numbers of land-ing aircraft, the two partnersresearched and recently launchedWASP—Wireless Access Surveil-lance Platform, which they claim isthe first and only system of its kind.

By installing a network of wireless,digital cameras along the taxiway andrunway connectors, the airport is ableto establish real-time visual docu-mentation of all incoming —and out-going—traffic. The cameras feed to alocal computer server that functionsas a Network Video Recorder (NVR)and stores all the images. The images,which are filtered and time-stamped,

are then transmitted to a centralWASP database, where they arematched against the FAA global data-base of N-registered aircraft, whichindicates the aircraft owner of recordbased on tax filing information. Thetail numbers also are scanned to see ifthey are on the FAA or TSA securitywatch list. Night-time surveillance isnot an issue because the system incor-porates an infrared nighttime illumi-nator. With the WASP system, an addi-tional layer of airport security is anattractive added benefit in the post-9/11 airport operating environment.

“The WASP system is especiallyuseful to county and municipal air-ports lacking control tower or instru-ment approach equipment, becauseall the fencing, lighting and fixedcameras in the world can’t stop air-craft from arriving and departingunannounced, unrecognized andeven unseen,” said Dale Albright.“The WASP system will record everyarrival and departure every time.”

In addition to the direct link to theFAA database, TTI offers a subscrip-tion-based service that can determinethe actual identity of the operator,location, type of aircraft and landingfrequency, indicating which landingaircraft are base customers and which

are transient—an essential compo-nent of any airport’s (or FBO’s)billing systems.

“In many cases, an airport can payfor the WASP system in less than twoyears simply by eliminating missedrevenues,” added Albright.

The wireless system can also be usedto monitor ramp areas, hangars, gates,airport buildings and fuel farms.

The hardware consists of the wire-less, digital fixed camera units,infrared nighttime illuminator, wire-less advanced optic digital pan-tiltzoom remotely controlled camerasused to scan ramp and other areas,and the local computer server thatfunctions as an NVR and stores thefiltered images of detected events.The installation complies with FAAPart 139 airport operating standards.

WASP has been implemented atfour airports to date: ConcordRegional, Franklin County and;Michael J. Smith Field,all in NorthCarolina, and Flagler County Airportin Palm Coast, Florida.

In the case of Franklin CountyAirport, the WASP system is beingused to document aircraft movementsin support of a state-funded runwayextension from 5,500 to 6,500 feet.

Michael J. Smith Field, located

TTI Wireless claims that its Wireless Access Surveillance Platform, or WASP, which logs and

tracks the N numbers of landing aircraft, is the first and only security system of its kind.

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directly next to an historic, seasidevillage, has strict noise abatementprocedures. The WASP system wasused at Smith Field as a bargainingchip by airport management in orderto gain approval for a runway exten-sion. With the aircraft monitoring

system in place, the airport now has areliable method of tracking any air-craft that violate the stringent noiserestrictions.

Albright said that TTI plans toinstall WASP systems at additionalairports in the near future. The cost to

install the WASP system is between$50,000 and $100,000, depending onthe number of cameras and the size ofthe airport. AFor more information, access www.ttiwireless.com.

TTI’s WASP system is especially useful to county and municipal airports lacking control tower or instrument approach equipment.

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abairport billboard


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U.S. MEMBER AIRLINES, AIR TRANSPORT ASSOCIATION

P2006

2005

2004

2003

2001

2000

NOTE: Sept 2000 – Aug 2001 traffic included to show pre-9/11 baseline

u i l d o u t

The Kansas City Aviation Department hasselected Trammell Crow Co. as masterdeveloper for the KCI Business Airpark,located on the southeast corner of the airfield at Kansas City International

The Columbus Regional Airport AuthorityBoard of Directors has approved a resolu-tion awarding a $30 million contract toNickolas Savko & Sons for construction ofNorfolk Southern’s intermodal terminal atRickenbacker International Airport.

Siemens was awarded a $19.1 milliondesign and build contract fromWalbridge/Barton Malow LLC for an inlinebaggage handling system as part of thenew Detroit Metro North Terminal redevel-opment project. The project includes thedemolition of the old Davey Terminal andthe construction of a new, two-level termi-nal with 26 gates.

The Los Angeles Board of AirportCommissioners awarded a $575 millioncontract to Clark/McCarthy, a joint venturecompany based in Costa Mesa, California,for major interior renovations at the TomBradley International Terminal at LosAngeles International Airport. The projectincludes installation of an in-line, checkedbaggage security system and a boardinggate for new large aircraft.

The team of Balfour Beatty and Mitsui &Co. has been selected to bid on the con-tract for the Oakland Airport Connector, aproposed automated people mover systemthat will bring airline passengers directlyinto Oakland International.

Delta Air Lines has begun the secondphase of construction on its lobby atHartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International,which includes $14 million of improve-ments scheduled to be completed by sum-mer 2007.

The Tucson Airport Authority has awardedfour contracts intended to replace the exist-ing lighting system for Runway 11R atTucson International; to upgrade the run-way lighting system at Ryan Airfield; toreplace all taxiway light fixtures at TucsonInternational, and to replace two regenera-tive air pavement sweepers at TucsonInternational. A

a s s e n g e r s b y a i r p o r t

AIRPORT AUGUST 2006 AUGUST 2005 %CHANGE

Austin-Bergstrom Int’l 697,538 668,300 +4%

Bob Hope (Calif.) 532,118 521,217 +2.09%

Cincinnati/No. Kentucky 1,428,880 2,113,243 -32.38%

Kansas City Int’l 924,219 858,632 +7.64%

Los Angeles International 5,743,056 5,918,714 -3%

Milwaukee Mitchell Int’l 662,573 662,052 +.08%

Omaha Airport Authority 366,066 370,174 -1.1%

Rogue Valley-Medford 58,092 60,759 -4.5%

San Luis Obispo 32,002 32,224 -0.7%

South Bend (Ind.) Regional 61,538 57,125 +7.73%

Southwest Florida Int’l 446,415 446,244 +.038%

Spokane International 300,191 315,052 -4.72%

Stewart International 29,892 40,872 -26.86%

T.F. Green (Rhode Island) 495,411 576,698 -14.1%

Gainesville Regional 23,330 4,990 -6.64%


plane sight ps

ADVERTISER PAGE PHONE WEBSITE

AAAE 21, 50 703-824-0504 www.aaae.org

Analogic Corp. 3 978-326-4522 www.analogic.com

Argus Consulting 7 816-228-7500 www.argusconsulting.com

Burns & McDonnell Inside Front Cover 816-333-9400 www.burnsmcd.aero

Delta Airport Consultants, Inc. 32 704-521-9101 www.deltaairport.com

Honeywell International, Inc. 13 800-728-1187 www.honeywell.com/homelandsecurity

NABCO Inc. 47 724-746-9617 www.nabcoinc.com

Oshkosh Truck Corp. 26, 27 920-235-9150 www.oshkoshtruck.com

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport 17 N/A www.phxskyharbor.com

Reveal Imaging Technologies Back Cover 781-276-8400 www.revealimaging.com

Reynolds, Smith and Hills, Inc. 5 800-225-7739 www.rsandh.com

Ricondo & Associates Inc. 45 312-606-0611 www.ricondo.com

Siemens 19 877-725-7500 www.usa.siemens.com/logisticsassembly

Smiths Detection Inside Back Cover 973-830-2131 www.smithsdetection-livewave.com

Stantec 28 207-775-3211 www.stantec.com

T.Y. Lin International 15 305-567-1888 www.tylin-hjross.com

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Documents

Baggage Handling Update FAA Simulates A380 Spacing Schiphol