Balancing the baggage handling performance of a check-in area shared by multiple airlines

Abstract

Baggage handling systems (BHS) take up a significant portion of an airport's overall operation. In particular, an entryway BHS is an essential component as it facilitates a smooth transition for baggage flowing from the check-in area to the general BHS by reconstituting a dynamic baggage flow into a stable flow on a conveyor system. The main purpose of this research is to determine an appropriate workload balance for a BHS line being shared by multiple airlines. This is particularly relevant in the South Korean context, as imbalances have been observed in the BHS design for an extension at Gimhae International Airport. These imbalances lead to a lower customer satisfaction rates for that particular airline as well as a reduction in the level of service provided by the airport during peak hours. In this study, new window reservation control logic, a re-allocation algorithm using a merge configuration, is applied to the entryway BHS. This allows the system to efficiently control the baggage flow space from respective check-in counters so as to relieve conveyor bottleneck, an intrinsic problem leading to the imbalances. A simulation model is used to test the validity of the suggested algorithm, and to investigate the effects on the performance measures related to both the BHS and check-in area. The results indicate that this suggested algorithm reduces the imbalances for the airlines sharing the BHS collection conveyor, while maintaining overall BHS performance at an acceptable level. The relationships between the variable used in the algorithm and overall performance are discussed further.