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AirportImprovement.com      September 2026
BAGGAGE 
PGD
Although traffic leveled off during the recent Allegiant/Sun 
Country merger, Laroche expects growth to resume as the airline 
transitions from Airbus A320s to larger Boeing 737s. 
Allegiant’s operating model leaves little room for delays, he 
explains. Every night, the carrier parks 12 aircraft at PGD, with 
flights departing in the morning, returning around midday and 
heading back out again.
Although Allegiant passengers check fewer bags than travelers 
on other airlines serving PGD, the airport’s previous manual 
baggage screening process generated delays. Checked luggage 
piled up behind the ticket counter, forcing airline employees to 
manually sort bags by flight before TSA personnel screened them.
“It was a pinch point, and we were seeing 
delays because of it,” Laroche acknowledges. 
“The equipment could only handle so much.”
Steven Henriquez, an AECOM vice 
president and project manager for the PGD 
project, notes that the airport’s rapid growth 
made a new baggage system unavoidable.
“Allegiant has expanded tremendously,” 
Henriquez says. “What had once been an adequate baggage 
system had become an operational bottleneck as passenger 
volumes climbed past 1 million annually.”
Funding the Upgrade
Modernizing the baggage system became possible when TSA 
approached airport officials in 2021 about participating in a year-
long design process that would be 95% funded by federal grants. 
After completing the design, TSA returned with another welcome 
offer—this time to fund about half of the $23 million needed to 
construct the new system. A combination of Florida Department of 
Transportation grants and passenger facility charges paid for the rest. 
Henriquez notes that it’s important to determine exactly what 
various funding sources will cover.
“TSA won’t pay for the building shell, but they will pay for 
anything related to the inline baggage system, their office space 
and things of that nature,” he advises. “We try to not overbuild 
because the TSA won’t pay for it.”
The project was bid in June 2023, and a limited Notice to 
Proceed was issued in September 2023 for permitting, shop 
drawing submittals and material procurement. Construction began 
in January 2024 and was completed in June 2026. The baggage 
system was operational in February 2026, and the old system area 
was converted to holdroom space after a testing run-in period. 
An Automated System
When commercial service began at PGD in 2007, the airport’s 
baggage screening operation included a single CT (computed 
topography) machine, one conveyor carrying bags into the 
screening room and another conveyor carrying them out. 
As passenger traffic grew, the airport added two more CT 
screening machines and repeatedly reconfigured the space to 
squeeze out additional capacity.
“But the basic setup was still one belt in, one belt out, with a 
90-degree turn onto a carousel that we had to expand two times 
as well,” Laroche explains. “The carousel was outside and wasn’t 
covered, and baggage handlers could only offload bags from one 
side.”
Florida’s frequent thunderstorms created another challenge. 
Whenever personnel spotted lightning, baggage handlers had to halt 
their outside work until the storm and associated safety risks passed.
“The ticket counter operation didn’t stop, so bags had to be 
stored behind the ticket counter until the ramp operation could 
continue,” Laroche notes. “They just kept taking bags and holding 
them behind the counter.”
Staff manually sorting luggage by flight before TSA screening 
helped minimize operational delays. 
The airport’s new baggage handling system with in-line 
screening increased both capacity and automation. Three Smiths 
Detection CTX 9800 screening machines can each process 
approximately 700 bags per hour, giving the system a combined 
capacity of 2,100 bags per hour.
“During our busiest periods, we’re only seeing around 400 bags 
an hour,” Laroche says. “So, we’re well positioned for future growth.”
Previously, every checked bag had to be removed from the 
conveyor, lifted onto a screening machine and then placed back 
onto the belt. Bags needing further inspection required additional 
handling. 
“The TSA agents were lifting every single bag, 100% of them, 
two and sometimes three times,” Laroche says. “This can lead 
to workplace injuries. This project is a huge workplace injury 
improvement.”
Garrett Hass, a mechanical design engineer 
for AECOM who specializes in baggage 
handling systems, notes that PGD upgraded 
an entirely manual operation into a more 
sophisticated automated screening process.  
“With the new system, most of the work is 
done automatically except when a bag needs 
further screening,” says Hass.  
The environment where bags are screened is larger, cooler and 
ergonomically set up. The previous screening room was cramped 
and hot—conditions that were especially challenging for agents 
handling the high volume of golf bags checked by PGD passengers. 
The new system automatically scans bag tags upon entry 
onto the conveyor, electronically measures each one for system 
compatibility, and directs them to the correct screening path. 
It diverts oversized bags automatically for manual screening. 
“We made sure golf bags could get through the system without 
needing hand screening,” Laroche specifies. “It used to take a 
screener about 15 minutes to manually screen a golf bag.” 
Smarter Technology 
The new equipment significantly changes how TSA officers interact 
with checked baggage. Rather than reviewing every bag, advanced 
GARRETT HASS
STEVEN HENRIQUEZ

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