US Airways to Upgrade Baggage System At Philadelphia International Airport

US Airways to Upgrade Baggage System At Philadelphia
International Airport

Wednesday February 11, 12:38 pm ET  


ARLINGTON, Va., Feb. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- US
Airways announced today that, pending final approval
by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
and the Philadelphia International Airport, it is
ready to begin a $2.7 million upgrade of its baggage
handling system at Philadelphia International Airport
to improve customer service standards. US Airways
hopes to begin construction in early March, with work
to be completed in time for the start of the peak
summer travel season.
 
US Airways has been working cooperatively with TSA and
Philadelphia International Airport officials on the
planning and design for the project, which will
significantly improve the airline's baggage handling
process and greatly reduce the number of mishandled
bags coming into the airport's B, C and International
terminals.

"We are determined to improve baggage handling at
Philadelphia International Airport and we want our
customers and employees to know that we are committed
to making travel as convenient as possible. This
investment is another example of that commitment as we
work to regain our number one ranking in baggage
handling among our competitors, which we held in 2001
and 2002," said Alan W. Crellin, US Airways executive
vice president of operations.

"TSA and Philadelphia International Airport officials
have worked very closely with us so that we can have
all construction completed before the peak summer
travel season," said Crellin. "None of us wants a
repeat of the summer of 2003, where staffing changes,
equipment breakdowns, and new security procedures all
contributed to frustrating experiences for some of our
customers. Those failures were simply unacceptable,
and we want to assure our passengers that this summer
will be a much more positive experience."

The redesign and upgrade of the system will enable US
Airways to make more efficient use of personnel and
equipment while maintaining the higher security
standards being implemented by the TSA. As part of the
project, US Airways and TSA will relocate several of
the agency's screening machines to new positions;
connect the conveyor system from the International
Arrivals Building to a newly configured and expanded
baggage handling area. The system upgrade will also
provide much-needed redundancies so that a failure or
breakdown in one part of the system will not impact
operations like it did last year, when portions of the
system were inoperable.

"We have significantly expanded our international
service at Philadelphia over the past several years,
and the new International Terminal and the upgrades to
the other facilities have made Philadelphia a great
airport for passengers. Since last summer, we have
added staff to handle the passenger loads, and it is
in the collective interest of the greater Philadelphia
region that we get these system upgrades completed
quickly," said Crellin. "We want to express our
appreciation to TSA and Philadelphia's Department of
Aviation for giving the project an expedited review."

US Airways and US Airways Express operate almost 400
daily departures nonstop from Philadelphia
International Airport, including 301 weekly flights to
31 destinations in Europe, the Caribbean, Canada and
Mexico. 



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