Subject: [NEXTEL-1] JIA tagged for tracking technology installation

From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 07 Apr 2004 01:51:21 -0400

The Florida Times-Union

April 3, 2004

JIA tagged for tracking technology installation

By GREGORY RICHARDS
The Times-Union

It is technology that's poised to track everything from toothpaste at
Wal-Mart to hand grenades for the military and already
helps runners collect their times across finish lines.

And this fall, Jacksonville International Airport will be one of the
first airports in the country to find another use for tiny,
radio-frequency identification tags: ensuring luggage makes its way to
planes without unscheduled detours or stops along the
way.

It's a task that becomes especially critical in February, when a crush
of fliers will descend upon Jacksonville for Super Bowl
XXXIX. The tags are being counted upon to help ease the massive strain
on the airport's baggage system.

By knowing exactly where the bags are along the labyrinth of conveyor
belts behind the walls of JIA, the Transportation
Security Administration believes security will be vastly improved. And
the airlines are confident the technology will help them
chip away at the hundreds of millions of dollars spent every year on
rerouting wayward bags.

"It's a big step forward for the airport, it's a big step forward for
the industry -- because we're breaking new ground -- and it's
a big step forward for passengers," said Chip Snowden, the Jacksonville
Airport Authority's chief operating officer.

Radio identification systems work by using electronic readers to grab
data stored within microchips. The chips are encased in
plastic tags laced with metal bands that serve as antennas, collect the
signals and bounce back information from the chip.

Widely accepted tests have shown that the radio frequency tags can be
read with an accuracy rate of about 99 percent, more
than the 85 percent typical with bar-code scanners. That's because bar
codes can only be deciphered if the readers are pointed
at them, which can be difficult as luggage slumps and shifts along
conveyor belts. Radio tags emit a signal that makes reception
easier.

Few other airports have adopted this high-tech solution. McCarran
International Airport in Las Vegas is believed by those in
the airline industry to be the only other U.S. airport scheduled to have
a whole-airport radio tag system like JIA's; installation is
to be finished next spring. Some airports that used the radio tags on a
partial basis, including San Francisco International
Airport and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, have switched back to
bar-code systems, saying the radio systems were
unnecessary.

One hurdle: cost. Radio tag prices begin at about 20 cents for
disposable versions, far higher than the penny or so it costs to
produce the popular bar-code tags.

--------------------------------------------------
Robert Molle, JIA planning director, describes the tracking system as he
stands under a baggage conveyor with both a radio
frequency scanner (above him) and a bar code scanner (right). BOB
MACK/The Times-Union
--------------------------------------------------

"It has potential as long as the tags can be made more cost effective
than they are today," said Robert Mann, an aviation
industry consultant based in Port Washington, N.Y. The magic numbers for
the radio tags are around 1 or 2 cents, he added.
Some believe it will take five years before prices drop that far, which
would strain an industry facing an estimated $2 billion in
losses this year.

JIA will take a slightly different approach this fall, opting for
reusable tags that cost between $1.50 and $2, depending upon
which vendor they choose. While this saves on buying new tags for all
bags, the airport must rely on the airlines to retrieve
them.

Radio luggage tags have been in limited use at JIA since January 2003,
when the airport's new baggage screening system began
operating. JIA's single, airport-owned system made it ideal for
installing the new technology, in contrast to many airports where
the airlines each run their own systems. So far, bags being tracked by
the radio devices belong to passengers flagged by the
TSA for extra screening. They might have bought a one-way ticket, or
paid for the trip in cash. Up to 10 percent of the bags
pulsing through JIA are tagged this way, Snowden said.

To track all the tags, the Airport Authority is spending between
$200,000 and $300,000, Snowden said. The authority is trying
to recoup that money through state and federal grants and by eliminating
some of the 30 part-time, temporary workers that
reroute lost bags.

Snowden said he was unsure when the system would pay for itself. But he
doesn't expect the airlines to shoulder any of the
costs.

The first big test for the new system will be during Super Bowl time. On
the Monday following the big game, when flights
leaving Jacksonville will be at their peak, JIA anticipates handling
50,000 bags. On a typical "real busy" day at JIA, about
9,000 bags pass through, Snowden said.

"We need to get the most efficiency out of our system that we possibly
can, and this is the way we'll do it," he said.

The airline industry, and Delta Air Lines in particular, has shown
strong interest in the radio tag system. Delta has to track about
120 million bags per year, of which it loses less than 1 percent --
still a lot of bags.

Delta envisions being able to know at the touch of a button whether all
of a flight's bags have passed through the conveyor
system and are loaded onto the plane. The airline also foresees kiosks
where passengers would determine the location of their
bags.

Despite its financial troubles, the airline began a test of the radio
tags Thursday at JIA. For at least the next month, it will attach
a tag embedded with a radio chip to the checked luggage on all flights
from Jacksonville to Delta's hub in Atlanta. The bags will
be tracked by readers at JIA and those set up especially for the test in
Atlanta.

It follows a similar trial last fall, again at JIA. The system read the
radio tags with nearly 100 percent accuracy.

"We can look at this and totally see where this will benefit us and
benefit our customers," Reid Davis, a Delta spokesman, said.

gregory.richardsjacksonville.com, (904) 359-4649

This story can be found on Jacksonville.com at
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/040304/met_15256955.shtml.

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