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Arrive at the airport and drop off your luggage. You watch them wistfully as they travel down the conveyor belt and disappear behind the hanging rubber curtains, wondering what will happen next and whether they will reach their destination together.
If you're traveling through Terminal B at New York's LaGuardia Airport, there's a very good chance your plane will arrive at its destination, or you, without any problems. The terminal, which was completely rebuilt and opened to the public in 2022, was designed with a state-of-the-art processing system that can fully track about 98% of the baggage that passes through the terminal, according to one official. . From the moment of inspection to the moment it is loaded onto the plane.
USA TODAY had the opportunity to visit the restricted area of the airport where baggage is processed and learn all about how baggage moves from the curb to the plane and from the gate to the merry-go-round.
Although our reporter and photographer weren't able to fulfill their dream of riding the 5.2-mile conveyor belt themselves, they were still able to see every step of the baggage handling process up close.
check-in
“The baggage journey begins at the departure level,” Angelo Salgado, senior director of operations at LaGuardia Gateway Partners, told USA TODAY as he led a tour through the baggage claim system.
One of the things that makes Terminal B's system stand out is the floor-level baggage scales. It's a small detail, but representatives from LaGuardia Gateway Partners, the company that developed and manages the new terminal, said the system is designed to make the passenger experience as smooth as possible. No need to pick up an overweight suitcase. All you have to do is roll your suitcase into place before paying.
The terminal has seven drop-off piers for regular baggage, two extra-large baggage inspection areas, curbside check-in, and group check-in facilities. Once the bags enter the system, they are sent to a primary inspection facility that is normally off-limits to the public.
sieving
Seven check-in piers feed the bags to two central mainline conveyors, which take the bags to the testing room. First, all baggage is scanned by 10 cameras upon arrival. This allows the system to read the barcode, ensure that the baggage is on the correct flight, and detect its dimensions. Oversized bags that are not routed to the oversized belt for any reason at check-in will be flagged and automatically rerouted. Otherwise, you run the risk of jamming the machine and interfering with all other inspections.
Salgado said 96% of bags can be tracked once scanned, but that doesn't mean the remaining 4% will necessarily be lost. He said most scan failures were related to “baggage hygiene.” Baggage tags may be improperly affixed, poorly printed, or somehow obscured during ingestion scanning, which can impact the system's ability to track.
In the main examination room, all bags of the appropriate size are passed through a CTX machine. The machine is similar to the latest generation scanners travelers see at Transportation Security Administration checkpoints on his second floor. Most bags are passed through the machine for loading and the system automatically moves the bags if there is no problem.
If the machine detects an abnormality, the bag sounds an alarm to alert personnel at the operations center. In many cases, bags can be inspected remotely with just a visual inspection on a screen and cleared for loading, but if a more thorough inspection is required, they will be sent to a secondary inspection room instead.
Unlike older systems with continuously running belts, the conveyor belts throughout the screening system run only when needed. According to LaGuardia Gateway Partners, it provides 37% energy savings compared to traditional systems.
Additional screenings
Baggage flagged for further inspection is placed on a LIDAR-equipped robot known as a mobile inspection table. These are placed on a conveyor belt and automatically routed to available TSA agents, who open the bags for a more thorough inspection before taking them home or setting them aside as unsafe for travel. It is divided into
Terminal B has 55 battery-powered mobile inspection tables that move without tracks and can be shuffled around to ensure they are all charged if necessary.
When a TSA officer searches your bag, they'll put one of the slips inside that says, “Your bag has been searched,” and then send your bag off.
A mobile inspection table then returns the bag to the belt, allowing the remaining luggage to be loaded.
Without the slip, most travelers probably wouldn't notice that their bag was set aside for additional inspection, but Salgado says that for a smooth trip, TSA packing We said it's always a good idea to follow the guidelines as closely as possible.
“If a bag is flagged, there's a good chance it won't be able to fly,” he says.
Raise and lower
Most bags pass through the screening system in about 10 to 15 minutes if a second check is not required, and about 25 minutes if a second check is required, said Anthony, a systems engineer at Oxford Airport Technical Services, which operates and maintains the system.・Mr. Etelgeneoso said: For LaGuardia Gateway Partners.
After all checks have been completed, the baggage is taken to a garage-like space and loaded onto a truck that takes it to the departing plane.
Terminal B's baggage system can process more than 3,250 pieces of baggage per hour, or approximately 10,000 to 18,000 pieces per day.
Salgado said the machines are very efficient and problems are most likely to occur during the loading and unloading process.
“It’s the human element,” he said. “It's a manual interaction with the bag. Maybe they make a sharp turn and the bag falls off the cart and gets lost.”
It is also where baggage is physically handed over from the airport's systems to the airline, as baggage loading is handled by the airline or its contractors.
Your luggage will be dropped off in the same room and placed on a cart to be taken to baggage claim.
Baggage claim area
Terminal B has nine shared baggage claims and two oversized belts, giving additional operational flexibility.
Salgado said the entire baggage system is tested every morning at 3:15 a.m. before check-in begins at 3:30 a.m., and terminal managers are given guidance on how to keep luggage moving if something goes wrong. Created a contingency plan.
Aside from the baggage handlers, most of the baggage movement is automated, and when things are going well, there are only a few people working behind the scenes and one tank full of fish.
What’s behind the scenes of your trip that you’d like to know more about?
Zach Wictor is a travel writer for USA TODAY based in New York. Please contact us at zwichter@usatoday.com.
