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the terminal roadway or the number of stops that CVs have
to make, thereby reducing the number of CVs required to
maintain an appropriate level of service. An APPF or OPPF
would also provide an opportunity to accommodate the TSA's
300-ft rule if the airport operator chooses to maintain that
distance rather than providing the necessary blast-protection
measures. There would also be a security benefit of reduc-
ing the number of uninspected check bags in the terminal
departures hall.
A major disadvantage of the APPF or OPPF is that, in most
cases, it would be difficult to retrofit an existing close-in or
remote parking garage to accommodate all of the features
that would help make a passenger-processing facility viable.
For example, CVs require higher floor-to-ceiling heights than
do POVs, and most parking garage entrances are not designed
to handle the volume of traffic associated with curbside
operations. Reconfiguring an existing garage to accommodate
curbside operations may be just as costly as reconfiguring or
expanding the terminal roadway. Remote passenger-processing
facilities would most likely require an APM connection to the
terminal to make the transfer of passengers and baggage
Figure 4-3. Self-service baggage check.
more efficient and to provide the level of service that would
make the remote facilities comparable with close-in parking
facilities. These systems can be very expensive and difficult to
integrate into an existing terminal area. system (see Figure 4-3 "Current Two-step System"), pas-
sengers obtain boarding passes via an SSD or the Internet
(Step 1) and then proceed to a bag drop position (Step 2),
Challenges to Implementation where an airline agent prints the appropriate baggage tags and
The implementation of passenger-processing facilities that checks the passenger's identification. The passenger's check
accommodate a variety of functions at locations other than the baggage is tagged and placed on the baggage belt by the air-
conventional terminal building would face many challenges. line agent. In contrast, self-service baggage check, in combi-
First, the amount of investment in existing close-in parking nation with common-use technology, allows for a one-step
facilities would be a major consideration. Another issue would system where passengers can obtain a boarding pass and
relate to the way passengers would be transported between tag their own bags in a single location (see Figure 4-3: "Self-
the passenger-processing facility and the terminal. While bus- service Bag Check"). This method allows airline agents to focus
ing operations are perceived as not providing as high a level on their full-service customers, for whom they can provide a
of service as APM systems and as having more significant higher level of service. Roaming customer service agents (pro-
environmental consequences and operating costs, they may vided by the airport operator or a third-party) could patrol the
be much easier to integrate with an existing ground trans- self-service areas and provide support as needed. Passengers
portation system. As with the process-based departures hall, who need assistance in the self-service area could be directed
a centralized baggage-screening system would be needed for to a self-service "help" desk or the full-service counters.
each terminal (if not for all terminals) to make remote baggage
check feasible. In addition, the transportation of checked
Key Drivers
baggage from either an OPPF or RPPF to the baggage make-up
area could present a major challenge, especially from a capital The key driving force behind self-service baggage check is to
cost standpoint. further empower passengers to process themselves. Self-service
gained tremendous momentum in the banking industry with
automated teller machines and has also affected big box re-
Self-Service Baggage Check
tailers and, more recently, fast food businesses. Self-service
The innovation of self-service baggage check is based on has become commonplace at airports throughout the world
the assumption that passengers would be able to tag their own and has reduced passenger-processing times at a lower cost
check baggage. In the current two-step self-service check-in than adding agent positions.
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Examples but passengers must access their respective airline facilities
to check their baggage.
While self-tagging of check baggage is not currently allowed There are very few disadvantages to self-service baggage
in the United States, numerous airports in Europe offer self- check. The biggest disadvantage may be an unintended
service baggage check. Vienna International Airport and consequence. An airline's ability to assist passengers during
Munich Airport have implemented both the current two-step off-schedule operations, which result in large numbers of
system with agent-staffed baggage drop positions in the second passengers waiting in a departures hall to change their itiner-
step and the one-stop self-service boarding pass and baggage aries, could be affected by the reduced number of full-service
check kiosks. At the one-stop kiosks, passengers swipe an agent positions that would be required when self-service bag-
appropriate identification card, obtain a boarding pass, and gage check is implemented. However, as many airlines are
select the number of bags they wish to check. The kiosk moving toward a heavier reliance on self-service processes,
prints the tags for one bag at a time, resolves any weight issues, new strategies for dealing with these types of situations are
and then inputs the bag into the baggage-handling system. being developed.
At both the Vienna and Munich airports, self-service baggage
check is provided in or near the train stations that serve the
airports, as well as in the departures hall. Operations Perspective
The key advantage of self-service baggage check from an
Assumptions/Prerequisites operations perspective is increased processing capability
without increased staffing requirements. Another advantage
Self-service baggage check relies on self-tagging, which
is reduced congestion in the departures hall caused by increased
is allowed in certain European countries but not currently
passenger-processing capabilities both in the departures hall
permitted by the TSA in the United States. Also, if self-
and at other locations. In addition, the ability to locate SSDs
service baggage check is combined with common-use systems,
and self-service bag-drop positions at various locations around
a centralized baggage-screening system would be needed for
the airport may present opportunities to generate additional
each terminal so that baggage for any airline could be input
nonairline revenues. For example, the demand for on-airport
at any self-service baggage drop position. These bags would
remote parking may increase because baggage check would
be sorted to the proper airline after they clear the baggage-
be offered as an amenity that may not be offered at off-airport
screening process.
parking locations.
One disadvantage to self-service baggage check is the
Evaluation potential impact on the baggage-handling system, in particular,
on the ticket counter take-away belt. As passenger-processing
Passenger Perspective
rates--and, therefore, peak baggage demand--increase with
One key advantage of self-service baggage check is that it self-service baggage check, the take-away belt, which has a
has the potential to allow check-in at almost any location limited capacity due to the speed at which it can operate
from which it is feasible to transport baggage to the terminal safely, would be more fully utilized. Allowing passengers to
via either baggage conveyor or manual handling. In addition, place their baggage directly on the take-away belt may in-
self-service baggage check can be accomplished efficiently crease downstream conveyor jams as different types of bags
since additional airline agents would not be needed to tag (e.g., wheeled, soft-sided) must be placed on the take-away
baggage. Remote placement of SSDs and self-service baggage- belt in different ways. Other issues that should be examined
drop positions, such as in a parking garage or CRCF, would in more detail include controls for preventing false claims
greatly reduce the need for passengers to transport their check of lost baggage (i.e., passengers claiming that they input a
baggage across busy terminal roads; on one or more modes of bag when they did not) and the impact of self-tagging on
transportation; or via multiple level changes, particularly in baggage-handling system misread rates.
parking garages, for which escalators or elevators may not be
available. Remote self-service bag drop would especially
Challenges to Implementation
benefit the elderly and disabled. Self-service baggage check,
implemented in a common-use environment, would also There are a few challenges to implementing self-service bag-
help simplify wayfinding because all self-service functions gage check. The one major challenge is that current security
(boarding pass and baggage check) could be located together regulations must be changed to allow passenger self-tagging
rather than apart, as in the current model; in the current of baggage. Retrofitting existing ticket counters and installing
model, CUSS kiosks (boarding pass only) are located through- self-service baggage check-capable devices would require mod-
out the departures hall and other parts of the terminal landside, ifications, but would not present a major challenge. Industry
