Improvements to San Francisco’s Harvey Milk Terminal 1
The first ICS-based BHS to go live in the US was at San Francisco’s new Harvey Milk Terminal 1 in June 2020. The system is designed for shared airline use and incorporates an integrated security screening process.
The consolidation to a shared-use baggage system using tote-based screening means redundant routes can be used to balance the load between the screening machines. Five independent baggage handling systems and 15 CTX machines have been consolidated into one centralised screening matrix with just seven screening machines now needed for baggage screening within the terminal.
ICS has enabled 100 percent tracking with each bag remaining in the same tote throughout the screening process and has completely eliminated Level 3 re-screening. The re-routing of baggage to conveyors is no longer required.
Importantly for the TSA, the ICS solution has also optimised the working conditions of its agents at the CBRA inspection stations. Physical lifting of any suspect bag is no longer required, as the bag is presented to the agent in the tote and parked in front of him.
Improvements to Denver International Airport
Similarly, ICS has made the entire baggage security screening process easier for Denver International Airport.
The system collects the ‘alarmed’ bags from different screening zones and transports them all to one, centralised area where the TSA conducts its intensified investigation. The bags are then transported back to the respective airlines. TSA personnel no longer have to lift bags, carry them over aisles and put them down again. Nor do they have to unload and load bags before and after they pass through the x-ray machines, as each bag remains in its tray.
Because the ICS-based sortation is so precise, the TSA has approved the mixing of ‘good’ and ‘suspicious’ bags on one line – which the conventional conveyor-based system does not allow.
Other airports bordering the USA, such as Calgary International Airport and Ottawa International Airport in Canada, are also using in-tote systems to comply with the US trans-border clearance under Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) regulations.