b'28 BGR|SDFBAGGAGEWider System Upgrades at Louisville IntlFollowing a similar timeline as TSA-sponsored improvementsMann notes. There was a little congestion and it took a lot of to specific pieces of its baggage screening process, Louisvillecoordination with the airlines, but the fact that we could do half of Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF) made major changes toit at one time made the construction go much quicker.the entire handling system. The airport also upgraded its tracking technology. We would At more than 20 years old, the baggageget complaints about long bag wait times, but we didnt have system at SDF was a fully depreciateda metric to measure that, Mann says. The new system, part assetso much so that airport personnelof SDFs Genetech Command Center, measures when a plane had to manufacture replacement partslands, when it parks at the gate, and when the first bag and last because they could no longer be purchased.bags are delivered to Baggage Claim. Now we have real-time It was pretty obvious that it had served itsdata to work with to make improvements, Mann remarks. useful life and it was time to upgrade, saysThe recent redesign/reconfiguration required fewer baggage SDF Executive Director Dan Mann. At someDAN MANN belts and, as a result, created more space. Some was reclaimed point, we would have a catastrophic failureto allow more room for personnel to handle bags. Aesthetic and wont have the ability to move the bags where we need. improvements include a new layout for the oversized baggage Beginning in 2021, the airport began coordinating with TSA,area, dynamic advertising added along the back wall of the its airline partners and project designer Alliiance to design a newbaggage claim area, and new lighting and furniture. Mechanical baggage system to better meet the needs of stakeholders. Mannsystems above the ceiling were also updated. says the most significant change was basic routing. With the oldRental car counters were replaced at the same time, and system, bags from arriving flights would go from the secure side,terrazzo upgrades are ongoing. By and large, it looks like a new rotate through the Baggage Claim area on the public side andfacility, Mann reports. Well have it fully done later this fall. then return to the secure side. It was just not something TSA wanted to see as we move forward, Mann explains. The newEven with one fewer bag belt, the new baggage handling system is designed so bags from arriving flights are loaded on thesystem is projected to meet demand for the next 20 years. Like secure side and head straight to Baggage Claim. From a securitymany airports, SDF is seeing larger aircraft and more baggage perspective, its a much better operation. than five years ago. Between the systems increased handling capacity and upgraded technology, Mann considers it to be a Construction on the four-belt project began in May 2023 andsubstantial upgrade to the customer experience. took just shy of 12 months. The new layout includes an east wing and west wing, which allowed SDF to keep one side running whileRecent baggage system improvements are part of the airports crews worked on the other. We were operational the whole time,$500 million terminal improvement program. November | December 2024AirportImprovement.com'