Brock Solutions/Vanderlande
Complete First Phase at DFW—World’s Largest Inline Baggage Screening System
April 12, 2005 – Dallas, Texas
DFW INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT,
Texas—DFW International Airport has begun operating the first phase of the
Airport's inline baggage system, which will be the world's largest automated baggage screening
system when it is fully implemented.
The inline baggage system is designed to screen
all 55,000 bags checked every day at DFW, without forcing passengers to
carry their bags to a separate screening location at the
Airport.
DFW was the first major airport to study and design a
comprehensive solution to the challenge of screening all baggage for
explosives in a post 9/11 environment. And it was a DFW system proposal to
the Transportation Security Administration that paved the way for the use of
similar inline baggage systems nationwide.
"Many of the security enhancements we've seen since 9/11
have added to the complexity of the traveling experience," said Jim Crites,
executive vice president of operations at DFW. "This system allows us to
remove some of that complexity for the passenger, by allowing them to just
drop off their bag at the airline ticket counter without taking part in any
additional screening measures."
The first phase of the inline baggage system to open is
located in Terminal E, and will screen the luggage checked in by Continental
Airlines’ personnel. Eventually the $220-million system will automatically
screen all checked luggage in DFW's five terminals, including the
soon-to-be-opened International Terminal D. The system, now under
construction at DFW, will include 13 separate screening areas located within
Terminals B, C, D, and E, and contain a total of 47 explosives detection
screening (EDS) machines and 104 explosives trace detection machines. A
centralized baggage monitoring room is located in Terminal B, where images
from all 47 screening machines will be evaluated by the Transportation
Security Administration (TSA).
Under the new system, checked bags are placed on a series of
conveyor belts and are automatically transported to equipment used to scan
for explosives. Travelers will be able to go directly to the TSA security
checkpoint and their departure gate while their luggage is screened and
moved to their flight.
"We're looking forward to fully implementing the system,"
said Jim Lair, acting federal security director of the Transportation
Security Administration. "The new inline construction means enhanced safety
and increased customer service for everyone who travels by air, and it
allows us to use state-of-the-art systems for all the baggage that comes
through the airport."
The system at DFW is expected to save the TSA about
$250-million over its first seven years of operation, according to a federal
report published last month by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
The savings include increased efficiency by transporting and screening bags
automatically. The system will also allow the TSA to streamline operations
by reducing the number of baggage screeners currently needed, and
re-deploying current employees to checkpoints in the new International
Terminal D and other high volume areas.
"The new inline baggage system can screen bags more than
twice as fast as the current operations in place," said Clay Paslay,
executive vice president of airport development at DFW. "In addition, the
system reduces the number of bags opened for additional inspection, because
these new state-of-the-art machines give screeners a clearer look inside the
bags, and that prevents many false alarms."
The system is being deployed in phases, starting with
Terminal E. Other segments of the system in Terminal E will go online later
in the spring, along with screening systems in Terminals B and C.
International Terminal D's inline baggage system will be operational on the
day the new Terminal opens in July. The inline baggage screening system for
Terminal A, the final phase, is still awaiting the completion of contract
and budgeting procedures, and has yet to begin construction.
The inline baggage system is part of a sweeping set of
security enhancements mandated in the wake of the events of 9/11 by the
Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001. The system is being paid
for by a combination of TSA appropriations funding, FAA grants, and DFW
International Airport. Construction on the inline baggage system began in
January 2004, and the phases currently underway are expected to be completed
by August. About DFW International Airport: Located halfway between the
cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, DFW International Airport is the
world's third busiest, offering nearly 1,800 flights per day and serving 57
million passengers a year. DFW International Airport provides non-stop
service to 119 domestic and 33 international destinations worldwide.
In 2000 Brock Solutions and Vanderlande Industries
established a strategic alliance with the specific aim of supplying turn-key
Baggage Handling Systems to large airports in the United States. The
partnership involves Brock designing, manufacturing, and commissioning
innovative automation systems and controls software, and Vanderlande
assuming responsibility for designing, manufacturing, and commissioning
track, tub, and belt-based baggage conveyor equipment.
In
response to the tragedy of 9/11 and the subsequent mandate of heightened
security requirements at US airports, Brock and Vanderlande have been called
upon by numerous airports, including DFW, to integrate Explosives Detection
Systems into existing Baggage Handling Systems, as well as to provide
complete systems implementations involving the design and deployment of BHS and EDS systems
in new terminals.
