Atlantic City International Airport Passengers Get a Lift

December 20, 2003

Airport Passengers Get a Lift
Press of Atlantic City, NJ

EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP - Airport passengers probably do more lifting than 
heavyweight bodybuilders. Whenever they are stuck in line, they have to pick up 
their bags, lug them forward, then set them down again - only to repeat the 
process over and over until they finally get to the check-in counter.

Ronald and Carol Delmanta, a Toms River couple flying to Orlando, Fla., for a 
holiday vacation, were doing a lot of lifting Friday while waiting in line at 
the Spirit Airlines counter at Atlantic City International Airport.

"We'll probably have a 20-minute wait," Ronald Delmanta said, as a crowd of 
passengers inched forward, luggage in tow.

But beginning next week, the airport will provide curbside check-in for the 
first time, allowing passengers to avoid long lines inside the terminal and the 
hassles of carrying their own baggage.

"It sounds terrific," Ronald Delmanta said. "It should save time and cut down 
on the congestion in the terminal."

A shedlike building with a blue canopy has been erected outside the terminal 
for curbside check-in. Passengers simply will drop off their bags at the 
building, receive their boarding passes and go directly to the security 
checkpoint inside the terminal.

Their luggage will be placed on carts, then taken inside the terminal for 
security screening. That way, passengers will be relieved of the burden of 
hauling their own bags and having to wait while the luggage is examined by the 
airport's bomb-detection machines.

"It's going to be a big customer-service improvement," said Thomas M. Rafter, 
airport director for the South Jersey Transportation Authority. "From the 
customers' perspective, all they have to do is drop off their bags. Everything 
else is done for them."

Curbside check-in, expected to begin Tuesday, will be available only to 
passengers flying on Spirit Airlines, the airport's dominant carrier. Spirit 
asked airport officials to introduce curbside service to accommodate the 
additional flights the carrier started this fall, just in time for the busy 
holiday travel season.

The South Jersey Transportation Authority, the airport operator, devised the 
curbside plan in cooperation with the Transportation Security Administration, 
or TSA, the federal agency that oversees baggage screening and airport security.

"We were able to work together to get the job done here," TSA spokesman John 
Anderson said. "Historically, it's not always that way at all airports."

Joseph Jacovini, the TSA's assistant airport security director, stressed that 
there will be no shortcuts in the screening process. Luggage that goes through 
curbside check-in will receive the same level of scrutiny by airport bomb 
detectors as bags that are handled at the Spirit ticket counters, he said.

Rafter estimated that 20 percent to 25 percent of airport passengers will use 
curbside check-in. Travelers taking advantage of the service should save, on 
average, about 15 minutes of waiting time, he added.

Curbside check-in is part of a number of improvements at the airport to handle 
a surge in passenger traffic this year. Fueled by Spirit's growth, passenger 
volume will break the 1 million mark this year, about a 12 percent jump from 
2002.

New shuttle service debuted this week, providing low-cost transportation 
between the airport and the Absecon Island communities of Atlantic City, 
Margate, Ventnor and Longport. Other stops are available at higher fares.

Improvements are also planned at the security checkpoint. A third lane will be 
added there to speed up the flow of passengers and carry-on bags through the 
X-ray machines and metal detectors.

In addition, a new $130,000 curbside check-in facility will be built next year 
to replace the temporary building. The new facility likely will include a long 
canopy to protect travelers from inclement weather and a conveyor belt to 
funnel bags directly to the screening stations.
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