From the Post-Dispatch today:
URL: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/s ... enDocument
Lambert carousels to get makeover
By Ken Leiser
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Thursday, Apr. 24 2008
ST. LOUIS — Passengers were crowding around the M6 baggage carousel Saturday afternoon on the lower level of Lambert-St. Louis International Airport when it did what the carousels often do.
It jammed.
But this time, Scott Somerville of Park Hills, Mo., fixed it himself. Somerville, who was there to pick up his father, Edward, jumped onto the carousel and unclogged the chute. As the gathered travelers applauded, the carousel resumed spitting out luggage.
Despite stepped-up maintenance of the six carousels at the Main Terminal, minor luggage logjams like Saturday's remain a problem. There are also occasional more-serious breakdowns and resulting long waits that leave travelers grumbling.
Lambert officials believe they have a fix — a plan to replace the beat-up, circa 1970 carousels and the rest of the inbound baggage-handling system. The $5 million job is expected to begin by the end of the year.
It's one of the first projects on deck for the $105 million overhaul of the airport's Main Terminal — along with clarifying the confusing signage leading to the terminal and brightening the ceiling above the main ticket counters.
"Baggage is always one of the biggest concerns of the passengers," said Lambert Director Richard Hrabko. "When they get off a flight, they want to have their baggage there and they want to have it there on time."
While airport officials don't have designs in hand yet, the new carousels and systems are not expected to extend from floor to the ceiling — as the current carousels do. And they should be more reliable, Hrabko said, in much the same way a new car is more reliable than one that's 30 years old.
The six Main Terminal carousels will be replaced one at a time, and all will be in service during the holidays.
Two claim systems for oversized luggage also will be swapped out.
The new delivery system will allow two airline baggage tugs (the vehicles that move luggage from a plane to the terminal) to simultaneously unload luggage onto the conveyors leading to the carousels. Now, only one can operate at a time.
Proposals are due May 2 from the three firms vying for the contract to design and build the new systems, Hrabko said.
Lambert took over maintenance of the baggage equipment only two years ago, although airlines remain responsible for unloading the luggage and getting it to passengers.
"We recognize the maintenance issues, and we've beefed up our maintenance system, and the reliability has gotten better," Hrabko said. "But we're still dealing with very old and antiquated equipment, basically."
The carousels and baggage-handling equipment were built in the early 1970s.
Bags can get jammed or snagged where the conveyor belts make turns between the loading areas and the carousels. The new system should solve the problem, said Lambert spokesman Jeff Lea.
Mary Schuermann, of south St. Louis County, who was at Lambert Saturday waiting for her bags from a Delta flight from Salt Lake City, said she has had to wait for extended periods at Lambert baggage carousels — especially after crowded flights.
"Baggage claims are never fun when you come to any city because it's just like a big rush to (see) who's going to get to your baggage first and if it's going to be there," she said. "Or if you're only going to get part of it."
Her wait Saturday was only a matter of minutes.
Scott Somerville, who earned applause by unclogging one of the luggage chutes last weekend, said he was a little embarrassed by all the attention. He didn't know people were watching when he scaled the carousel — not once, but twice — to remove the bags that were stuck there.
"After it got to six bags, I decided that I'd just jump up and get it," he said.
Nationally, there were about 7.03 reports of luggage being lost, damaged, delayed or pilfered last year for every 1,000 passengers who flew on major domestic airlines, according to the Air Travel Consumer Report published by the U.S. Department of Transportation. That was the worst year for mishandled bags since 1989.
For air travelers, that trend is breaking in the wrong direction, said Scott T. Mueller, former system manager for baggage services at Midwest Airlines and author of "The Empty Carousel: A Consumer's Guide to Checked and Carry-on Luggage."
The baggage-handling systems are part of the cause. The others are the volume of people traveling, airline staff cuts and luggage theft.
"The majority of the airports out there, the systems are old," Mueller said. "They're not able to keep up processing the number of bags through their carousels today."
Hrabko said the airport recognized the importance of baggage delivery to passengers. That's why leaders have moved up the timing of the carousel project among the planned improvements that sprouted from the Lambert Experience Project.
Work on roadway signs and ceiling above the central ticketing area are other examples.
Apple Designs Inc. of Raleigh, N.C., is devising a plan to revamp the signs between Interstate 70 and the airport. The project is expected to cost $1.5 million.
The airport also is spending $2.5 million to resurface the ceiling and replace the lighting systems above the main ticket area. That work should begin by late summer.
kleiser@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8215
URL: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/s ... enDocument
At least they're not paying to light the thing up anymore.
