Loading Luggage at Airports

Loading Luggage at Airports

Luggage at airports can voyage over five miles on conveyor belts even if the passenger only has to walk one quarter mile from the ticketing area to the gate. For example, at Miami International Airport it is not unusual for checked bags to make a circuitous route that is triple the distance of the runway, and that's before it even gets onto the airplane. With tags that are barcoded, most of the sorting of checked baggage is done by machines until the point where a luggage handler loads the bags onto the airplane.

When you check your luggage at the ticket counter, a safety screening is conducted. Data matching your flight estimate and destination is taped or tagged to the handle so that a barcode reader can detect what gate and what airline each piece of luggage is assigned to. Between 150 and 400 checked bags weighing about 40 pounds each are traveling with each airline flight. This varies depending on the size of the airplane, how many unsold seats are available, and either the flight is local versus international. Whereas fewer checked bags appear to be the trend on short flights, international flights indicate a longer trip that often requires passengers to voyage with more clothing or specialized gear.

Airline counter staff places the bags on a belt near the ticketing area, then the luggage travels on a highway-like theory of conveyor belts. There are many intersections-- like freeway exit ramps --where a barcode reader makes a decision as to which flight estimate the baggage belongs. At the end of the conveyor system, a giant bin catches the luggage as it is deposited with other bags for the designated flight and gate number. Pallet jacks and forklifts may be used by airport staff to move large bins of luggage onto trucks that are authorized to operate on the tarmac near the runway.

Small trucks with trailers are often used to transport baggage from a final to the airplane waiting on the tarmac. Inside the baggage sorting area of the terminal, sometimes groups of baggage must be rerouted when a plane is rerouted. Large packaging filled with 20 to 40 suitcases are maneuvered by the use of forklifts and pallet jacks. Otherwise, each bag would have to be moved manually. Since large groups of suitcases often need to be batched together, handling them with machinery cuts down on injuries and saves time. Usually, as long as a suitcase stays with its designated group, loss of bags is minimized.

A tilted conveyor belt typically pulls luggage directly into the cargo bay of the airplane. Human labor is used to pull bags from a luggage truck onto this final conveyor belt. As the bags arrive on the airplane, a flight crew member may help to push the bags into the cargo area. Sometimes this process is more automated, and machinery replaces the human factor. A bag that gets separated from its destination still requires some troubleshooting, although computerized conveyor belts have replaced many of the steps that used to involve by hand labor.

If the barcoded tag gets removed from a bag then the passenger lists must be checked in order to reunite the bag with its owner. Last diminutive flight changes and weather delays can confuse even the most effective computer system. However, the vast majority of checked baggage travels an automated route from ticketing to tarmac with minimal complications.

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