Airport_Business_February-March_2020 - 16

BAGGAGE MATTERS
AUTHOR Walker Jaroch

WHAT'S
IN
YOUR
BAG?
NEW SCREENING AND TRACKING TECHNOLOGY
MAKE FOR SAFER AIRWAYS

Baggage handling systems are entering the future as Miami International
employs a fleet of robots to increase screening efficiency and airports elsewhere
bring radio waves and lasers to their operations.
MIAMI INTERNATIONAL Airport welcomed a slew of
new employees last September, though not one of
them will require a W-2 this month. The new crew is
made up of 102 Mobile Inspection Tables (MIT) and is
part of the airport's design-build project for the new
South and Central Terminal checked baggage system,
which was awarded to Daifuku Airport Technologies
in 2017.
The newly constructed, three-level
Checked Bag Inspection System (CBIS)
Building, used to house screening
equipment and TSA personnel, went
live in July of 2019. The CBIS Building
is home to the Checked Baggage
Reconciliation Area (CBRA) and the
102 MITs - making Miami international
home to not only the largest installation
of MITs, but also the largest automated
guided vehicle (AGV) airport industry
application in the world. Currently,
Daifuku is in the process of tying in the
South and Central Terminal's into the
new building, with work anticipated to
be completed this year and the entire
project costing $324 million.
"The remaining airlines in concourses
F, G, H and J are transitioning to the
new system through December 2020,
when approximately 50 total airlines
will be using the new system and
the former South Terminal system
can be demolished," said Greg Chin,
communications and digital marketing
director, for Miami-Dade Aviation
Department.

In addition to the MITs, the
Central Terminal received a new
baggage handling system (BHS) to
replace the airport's older stand-alone
systems, with manual screening at the
ticketing and make-up level areas. The
South Terminal's BHS was revised and
expanded to provide increased capacity
and the latest explosive detection
system (EDS) technology. The Central
Terminal's BHS sports a total conveyor
sortation or inline screening. So, we
count of 904 with eleven ticket counter
are replacing the entire old system with
lines and the South Terminal's system has
the new upgraded system. Although the
1,331 conveyors with ten ticket counter
South side was relatively modern with
lines and three curbside lines.
an inline screening system, it didn't have
"The project scope includes the
the new technology of screening systems
replacement of the entire in-line checked - we're up upgrading that. Additionally,
bag screening system for South Terminal
we are centralizing the security screening
and installation of a new checked bag
for both the Central and South Terminals
screening system and automated sortation
together in one location into a new
system for central terminal," Chin said.
building rather than having that spread
"We're completely replacing the
out in multiple locations."
existing system for the Central Terminal,"
Todd Alderman, VP of Daifuku
Tim Hipp, Daifuku's project manager at Airport Technologies, added that while a
MIA, described. "Essentially, they had
big part of the project was geared around
ticket counters going down to individual
the aging baggage systems, the greater
makeup units, instead of large scale
focus was on updating Miami's security

16 \ AIRPORTBUSINESS / FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020
Airport_Business_February-March_2020

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