BAE AUTOMATED SYSTEMS

BAE Automated Systems

Abstract

In this study we try to explore the concept of Baggage Handling System in a holistic context. The main focus of the research is on Baggage Handling System and its relation with Airport facility management.

Table of Contents

Abstract2

Background of the Case12

Alternatives Analysis and Airport's Strategic Planning13

Conclusion17

BAE Automated Systems

Background of the Case

Originally billed as the most advanced system in the world, the baggage handling system at the new Denver International Airport was to become one of the most notorious examples of project failure. Originally planned to automate the handling of baggage through the entire airport, the system proved to be far more complex than some had original believed. The problems building the system resulted in the newly complete airport sitting idle for 16 months while engineers worked on getting the baggage system to work (Flynn, 1994a).

The delay added approximately $560M USD to the cost of the airport and became a feature article in Scientific American titled the Software's Chronic Crisis. At the end of the day, the system that was finally implemented was a shadow of what was originally planned. Rather than integrating all three concourses into a single system, the system supported outbound flights on a single concourse only. All other baggage was handled by a manual tug and trolley system that was hurriedly built when it became clear the automated system would never meet its goals (Neufville, 1995).

Even the portion of the system that was implemented never functioned properly and in Aug 2005 the system was scrapped altogether. The $1M monthly cost to maintain the system was outweighing the value the remaining parts of the system offered and using a manual system actually cut costs.

Alternatives Analysis and Airport's Strategic Planning

Airport directors are charged with charting and implementing the missions of their airports. Doing so involves periodic development of airport-wide comprehensive or master plans, as well as the development of an associated project-implementation strategy. Without such a strategy, a completed airport plan will not serve as the blueprint for future development it was intended to be and is no more than the product of an academic exercise.

The airport planning process addresses facilities that are needed to adequately meet expected future demand levels, a technical process that reflects a certain degree of stakeholder input. Airport strategy, on the other hand, considers the greater airport and regional context of the plan and its implementation, including adoption by the governing agency, and often involves negotiations with other organizations and interactions with politicians, airport neighbors, and regulators. A successful and implementable plan must fit with the overall strategy of the airport (Joseph, 1997). The following examples illustrate the importance of the consideration of overall strategy during the planning process:

At a large airport located in two different jurisdictions, a site for a new control tower was selected because it fell within the same political jurisdiction that owned the airport. The planning process, though, had focused on the best site from a purely aeronautical perspective and had not considered the important and ...