New York’s LaGuardia airport, long the butt of jokes and sneers, has largely emerged from its heavy construction phase with a bevy of new terminals, garages, stores and restaurants—and one of the world’s most advanced automated baggage-handling systems.
The picture above gives you an idea of the size and complexity of the back-stage operation that swings into service when you drop your bag at the curb or counter (and by the way, you won’t be risking your back hefting the suitcase onto the counter scale: The scales are built into the floor).
Once you’ve let go, the bags are handled on 3.2 miles of conveyor, which take them through TSA screening (the big machines in the picture) for automatic processing; for random checks or if something rings a bell, a robot inspection table collects the bag, finds the nearest available agent, and delivers it to him and then returns it to the belts.
LaGuardia Gateway Partners, which operates the new Terminal B, says bags should be on a tug headed for the plane within six minutes, or twelve to eighteen if it’s flagged for inspection. Arriving flights skip the security area and are delivered directly to the nine carousels, or to a connecting flight.
Always with the caution: “If all goes well…” What would be the fun of flying if high-tech took all the randomness out?
