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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 1 - Background." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Elimination or Reduction of Baggage Recheck for Arriving International Passengers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13650.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 1 - Background." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Elimination or Reduction of Baggage Recheck for Arriving International Passengers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13650.
×
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Page 7
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 1 - Background." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Elimination or Reduction of Baggage Recheck for Arriving International Passengers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13650.
×
Page 7
Page 8
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 1 - Background." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Elimination or Reduction of Baggage Recheck for Arriving International Passengers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13650.
×
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Page 9
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 1 - Background." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Elimination or Reduction of Baggage Recheck for Arriving International Passengers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13650.
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Page 9

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5Background Context On a typical day in the United States, close to 180,000 passengers arrive at international air- ports and are processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to determine their valid- ity to enter the United States. While in the Federal Inspection Service (FIS) area, all travelers must reclaim their checked baggage before exiting. However, more than 60,000 of those passen- gers have onward connecting flights. Currently, a number of airlines and airports operate bag- gage recheck facilities adjacent to the FIS area to enable connecting passengers to immediately drop off their bags before continuing to their connecting flight. These facilities are provided by airports and/or airlines as a customer service function and enable the bags to be re-entered into the system at the earliest possible time. The multiple handling of bags is cited by passengers as a customer service nuisance, requires additional space for airports, represents an additional operational cost for airlines, and increases the probability of mishandled bags. For CBP, how- ever, the ability to manage risk from contraband or terrorist materials within bags is cited as being imperative to protect the United States from threats. The net result is a system that is not scalable to the projected future growth of international traffic. The recheck process currently affects approximately 31 million bags annually in the United States. Mishandling of transfer baggage accounted for approximately 51 percent of miss- ing bags in 2010 (2). Based on renewed growth and delivery of new international air services, this volume could easily increase to 60 million bags per year by 2025. While overall improvements are achieved by improved baggage handling systems, the recheck process adversely affects the effectiveness of the U.S. international arrivals processes. What Mandates Baggage Recheck? In interviews conducted with stakeholders, and in discussions at airport study sites, it was appar- ent that there was some degree of confusion as to whether CBP mandates the baggage recheck process. In reviewing facility design criteria, there is no specific “mandate” by CBP for baggage recheck stations; the link is instead indirect through the way CBP administers risk management. CBP regulations (Title 19 §162.6) specify that baggage is “liable to inspection and search by a customs officer.” To satisfy this regulation, the CBP Airport Technical Design Standards (ATDS) Section 2.7 specifies, “Following a determination of admissibility by CBP, passengers proceed to the baggage claim where the passengers claim and retrieve their baggage.” Recheck facility provision is entirely at the discretion of the carrier or airport. The primary means of meeting this process design is through a baggage carousel within the FIS area. International connecting passengers pick up checked bags, complete the CBP process, and then exit the CBP facility. C h a p t e r 1

6 elimination or reduction of Baggage recheck for arriving International passengers Not all airports have recheck facilities; instead, some have their passengers check in to domes- tic connections along with originating passengers. For example, some carriers at San Francisco International Airport and Fort Lauderdale International Airport have stopped using recheck facilities due to staffing costs. As a result, the elimination or reduction of baggage recheck is a byproduct of exempting con- necting bags from appearing in the international arrivals hall. Increasing Pressures Limited time, space, and resources are some of the pressures that are facing international air- ports. Moreover, this is the segment of air traffic that is forecasted to have the highest growth rates. Based on facility guidelines from CBP, passengers and bags are reunited in the FIS facility. As a result, baggage recheck facilities are offered to collect bags connecting to other flights. However, this process reduces the effectiveness of U.S. international airports to act as hubs. The adoption of liberalized traffic agreements, the growth and evolution of market partnerships and alliances, and new aircraft technology have all combined to magnify the global nature of the airline business. The market forces within the airline hub-and-spoke network serve to nurture and support an environment where international arrivals translate into a subsequent set of connections to onward domestic or international markets. Connecting passenger growth and increased checked baggage are a direct result of new ser- vices being introduced at U.S. hub airports. The numbers of connecting market itineraries that are generated by a new spoke into a hub are impressive, whether it is Washington Dulles, Houston, or Memphis. Over the last decade alone for United and its Star Alliance partners at Washington Dulles, domestic markets have increased by 8 and international destinations have increased by 18. When multiplied across a hub’s entire service pattern, these numbers can trans- late into thousands of potential international-to-domestic and international-to-international connections. The points above summarize the overall development of international services based on mar- ket trends, not only in the United States, but throughout the world. The speed and consistency at which passengers and their baggage can transit an airport is of increasing importance to the growth of the hub-and-spoke model. In this context, airport and U.S. government agency pro- cesses and resources governing connection traffic and their bags have a measurable impact. For this reason, there is such a strong focus on facilitation initiatives in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and International Air Transport Association (IATA) aimed at simplifying the business or enhancing the future travel experience. Recent initiatives by CBP to foster a risk-based environment toward “seamless travel” are also part of this trend. The strength of hubs and the continued role of connecting passengers in the airline marketplace is a key rea- son why this research is timely and improvements are essential. The “passenger experience” aspect for passengers is also increasing in prominence as passen- gers have additional options. Surveys from airports and other leading studies on passenger opin- ions continue to show reduced satisfaction corresponding with the number of times that bags need to be handled during the course of a journey. For example, a 2010 SITA global passenger survey showed that waiting for bags on arrival is the second most important area of air transport in which passengers would like to see improvement (3). This dissatisfaction is exacerbated by the need for international arrivals to recheck their bags only moments later when connecting through a U.S. airport. Improving this experience by reducing or eliminating these steps is a goal that all stakeholders—airports, airlines, and CBP—share.

Background 7 The approach to this research also examines risk management solutions and incremental ben- efits to airports and airlines. New technologies, processes, and capabilities could yield facilitation and security benefits, provided they can be met within the space and time constraints inside the airport environment. Improving the speed of passenger processing is an ongoing trend within the airport and air- line market. As previously indicated, passengers prefer to handle their baggage as little as possible over the duration of a trip. Introducing alternative approaches or new technology to enhance a baggage bypass system for passengers not only benefits the user, it also benefits the air carriers and the airports that serve them. The air carriers could benefit from a reduction in minimum connect times, which currently range from 60 to 90 minutes at various U.S. airports, and/or a solution that would provide greater consistency in meeting existing times. A reduction in mini- mum connect times and greater reliability in airline schedule performance allows a hub to dra- matically increase connecting possibilities and allow routing options to be selected by consumers based on a greater range of time/pricing options. The benefits for airports can be realized through cost savings in space allocation, as well as improvements in global hub strategies for major air carriers. The elimination of baggage recheck will allow air carriers to strengthen their hubs at key international airports that may provide this service, thus increasing passenger volumes, which in turn leads to increased revenues for airports. Cost-Effective Risk-Based Solutions Needed At the root of this study is an examination of the trade-off between processes, risk manage- ment, and the growing volume of passengers and checked bags. Due to key terrorist events (e.g., September 11, 2001, and December 25, 2009) and real and perceived threats, passengers and their baggage arriving at air ports of entry continue to face a disproportionate degree of scrutiny. For example, while 180,000 passengers per day enter at international airports, 300,000 passen- gers per day flow through land border checkpoints to the United States (4)—and only a small minority of bags in passenger vehicle trunks are ever “seen” by CBP. Risk management of international arrivals continues to challenge CBP and other agencies respon- sible for dealing with the evolving threats facing the United States and the aviation industry. An emerging theme is the need to economize existing resources to better work toward a system of col- laborative risk management. This means that agencies such as the Transportation Security Admin- istration (TSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and industry participants must work collaboratively. Ultimately, a system aimed at cost-effective solutions will maximize targeting, screening, and inspection within a finite period of time. CBP and TSA have increased their degree of cooperation, with greater integration and collaboration of programs for international travelers: To counter the threat of terrorism and secure our borders, CBP relies on a balanced mix of professional law enforcement personnel, advanced technologies and fully modernized facilities and infrastructure both at and between the ports of entry. CBP officers utilize advanced targeting, screening and inspec- tion technologies to quickly identify persons or cargo that warrant additional scrutiny without unduly impeding the traveling public or commerce. CBP Commissioner Bersin and TSA Administrator Pistole Statement November 2010 The following issues are a small selection that CBP faces at international airports of all sizes in the United States: • In May 2011, CBP seized nearly 90 pounds of cooked Ethiopian sheep meat at a major inter- national hub.

8 elimination or reduction of Baggage recheck for arriving International passengers • From November 2010 to January 2011, CBP made more than 190 seizures of fake merchandise with a total retail value of more than $2 million at a medium-sized hub. • In January 2011, CBP intercepted an individual who had swallowed more than 90 pellets of heroin at a medium-sized international airport. • In April 2011, CBP seized 13 packages containing more than 33 pounds of cocaine at a smaller international airport. In addition to CBP’s mandate to manage border risks, its sister agency TSA has the mandate to protect the nation’s transportation systems, including aviation. From the perspective of TSA, the concept of eliminating or reducing baggage recheck has a very limited, if any, risk value because all bags will be screened per TSA standards before being loaded onto the outbound aircraft. Differentiating Between “Eliminate” and “Reduce” The purpose of this study is to identify opportunities to eliminate or reduce the need for baggage recheck at U.S. airports. Because of the vast number of potential interpretations (e.g., system-wide, airport-by-airport, sector-by-sector) of the terms “eliminate” and “reduce” and the importance in understanding the differences, the findings and conclusions of this study are based on the fol- lowing definitions: • Eliminate—Remove the need for baggage recheck entirely, on an airport-by-airport basis, so that any eligible connecting passenger can have bags routed by default to the next flight segment. • Reduce—Define a subset of passengers whose process may be facilitated. The limitations that may be applied at the airport in question could include airline, class of passenger, country of origin, sector, status with CBP trusted traveler programs, etc. The ability to eliminate or reduce the need for baggage recheck at an airport also depends on numerous other elements, including the following: • Size and layout of airport • International traffic volume • Historic and future risk analyses • Short- versus long-term solutions Each of these elements will be addressed in this report. Furthermore, this study is based on the understanding that only those passengers who are connecting travelers (i.e., in possession of onward ticket and baggage, if applicable) are eligible for eliminated or reduced baggage recheck procedures. Research Approach The project included activity from 2009 to 2011 for the purpose of conducting analyses on the market, facility, flow, and risk management aspects related to baggage recheck elimination or reduction. The following approach was used: • Review of Connection Volumes—The first priority was to determine the extent of the demand for baggage recheck services. Through a review of entry data to the United States, a model was developed to estimate the size of connecting traffic for international arrivals at U.S. airports. • Inventory of Current Recheck Procedures—A second priority was to examine the types of flows. Major differences exist throughout U.S. airports based on markets served, size of facilities, and type of airlines present. The team performed a thorough review of existing systems, practices, and procedures. Five different types of baggage recheck flows were documented for 30 U.S. airports, representing more than 97 percent of international arrivals.

Background 9 • Identification and Review of Case Study Airports—The study team proposed nine potential case study airports based on a review of substantial differences across airport/airline markets. Criteria for review included traffic volumes, market dynamics, facility layout, and operational characteristics. Case study reviews were conducted from November 2009 to March 2010 to examine the dynamics on baggage recheck at San Francisco (SFO), Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), and Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta (ATL) international airports. A fourth site—Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)—was added and reviewed from September 2010 to March 2011. The objective of the task was to conduct a detailed study of the international connection process and to determine the feasibility of conducting alternative procedures at these air- ports. During the case study, the research team met with the appropriate air carriers, airport operators, and government agencies (e.g., CBP and TSA) in order to garner a greater level of detailed local understanding from each organization. • Definition of Alternative Procedures—During the case studies, the study team defined poten- tial alternative procedures to eliminate or reduce the need for baggage recheck. The defini- tion process included a full evaluation of the types of technologies [e.g., biometrics, radio frequency identification (RFID), smartcards] or programs (e.g., Global Entry) that could be leveraged to reduce or eliminate baggage recheck. Meetings were held with CBP and TSA in December 2010 to review potential solutions. A peer review was conducted in January 2011 in Washington, D.C., with representatives from airports, airlines, and trade associations. • Criteria Development and Testing—A set of criteria was put forward to assess the value of the alternative procedures for baggage recheck elimination. These criteria were formulated into three site-based tests involving several aspects of recheck elimination. The results were put into a simulation model to assess suitability for broader applications and associated findings for the research. To formulate the findings, analyses were undertaken with the above approaches, including interviews with selected technology vendors.

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TRB’s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Report 61: Elimination or Reduction of Baggage Recheck for Arriving International Passengers identifies potential alternative procedures that might be implemented to help reduce or eliminate the need for the recheck of baggage for arriving international passengers at U.S. airports.

The report describes the potential benefits and costs to airports, airlines, and federal agencies related to adopting the procedures and also compares the alternative procedures with current practices.

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