David Zhou of MoreRFID.com (our content partner here at the RFID Weblog) recently interviewed Mike Saunders, director of aviation of Symbol Technologies, on Symbol's successful implementation of RFID luggage tracking at Las Vegas McCarran Airport and Hong Kong International Airport.

Question: Could you give us some information about Symbol's implementation for Las Vegas McCarran Airport and Hong Kong International Airport?

Answer: Vegas McCarran Airport wanted to consolidate baggage inline tracking. After Sept. 11, airports and airlines were given strict mandates about security screening for luggage. At the time, McCarran's screening was decentralized. To meet the new regulations, the airport opted to deploy a state-of-the-art centralized security system that will feature six, two-level screening facilities with four miles of conveyors. The airport recognized this need and they also believed the best they could get from barcode reading system is approximately up to 85% ~ 90% read rate. Also optical read rates are very dependent on line of sight; you have to make sure the bar code has to be seen by whatever automated device they have. RFID, on the other hand, provides 99+% read rate and is not constrained by sight lines.

From an airport operational perspective, this reduces the requirement for manual intervention for 'miss reads' resulting in cost efficiencies and speedier processing times overall. Think of this way, you have an airport that checks in 70,000 bags a day. For optical barcode system, you can read 85 ~ 90 bags out of every 100 bags, which means you have to manually sort at least 10 bags per 100 bags. For RFID scenarios, you have 1 bag out of 100 bags. So you create considerable amount of efficiency on that basis.

It makes more sense for airports to use this state of the art technology to provide more efficiency at the airport overall. It also improves airline's efficiency in terms of lost bags. RFID effectively improves the entire baggage handling process from the induction to the end of its journey on the belt: 99% done automatically compared with 85 ~ 90% done using barcode system.

Not only did McCarran Airport increase security in the tracking of the luggage, the airport optimized their space requirements by about 37%, thereby improving passenger flow during the check-in process.

Question: What are the benefits for these two airports? What's the baggage volume for these two airports?

Answer: The bag volumes are 70,000 bags a day at Las Vegas McCarran Airport and 70,000 ~ 75,000 bags a day at Hong Kong international Airport. The rational behind implementing RFID at these two airports are different.

Las Vegas McCarran Airport is primarily an O&D (Origin and Destination) airport. It means people travel to Las Vegas in order to visit Las Vegas; very few people take connecting flights through Las Vegas McCarran Airport. From the airport perspective, the rationale to implement RFID was to:

• improve baggage handling efficiency
• better security
• RFID would facilitate the ability for passengers to check in their baggage off campus while ensuring the TSA security mandates. In other words, if I am staying at one of the Las Vegas resorts, I will be able to check in my luggage and get my boarding card via the service. As such, I would not have to go airport quite as early because I have completed the check-in process at the hotel.

Hong Kong International Airport has a different scenario:

Hong Kong International Airport is one of the largest hubs in Asia. Roughly 60% of the passengers are connecting passengers through Hong Kong International Airport. By using RFID, they can also get the same kind of benefits Las Vegas McCarran Airport has: more security, more efficiency and off-campus checking. Hong Kong International Airport also wanted to improve / reduce connection times, which they firmly believe RFID would provide. Currently, Hong Kong International Airport is adding an RFID label for connecting bags. What they hope to see is other airports adopting RFID for baggage, thus having RFID labels already tagged on the transfer baggage. Indeed, they see this as such an operational imperative that Airport Authority of Hong Kong (AAHK) is investing in airports on mainland China so that they would adopt RFID.

Question: At both airports, which airlines have used this technology?

Answer: All major airlines flying to Las Vegas McCarran Airport are using RFID technology; United, Delta, American, Northwest, Continental, etc., and even the low cost carriers such as Southwest and JetBlue. Hong Kong International does the same as all carriers operating into that airport will be utilizing RFID. The only difference is that they are international carriers such as Cathay Pacific, British Airways, Japan Airlines, Air France, Lufthansa, etc.

Question: What are barriers for airlines to implement RFID technology to track baggage?

Answer: The promise of RFID technology has been proved by various trials we have implemented. We have seen many new benefits occurring because of RFID.

For the airlines, the primary barrier is the cost of tag. The cost of a tag right now for an airline, that is a barcode tag, is about 5 ~ 7 cents per tag. To that number, one must currently add another 15 ~ 20 cents for the RFID inlay on a tag. Although that cost is projected to dramatically reduce over time, airlines considering RFID implementation today must weigh the cost of purchasing RFID inlays over their entire network, as well as the provision of the infrastructure to all the airports that they fly to. Of course, the cost would be mitigated if the airport provides them with the RFID system, or part of it, such as the RFID infrastructure. The bottom line is that it will always be an economic decision for the airline. And as it is with the introduction of most new 'disruptive' technologies, the return of investment occurs when that technology causes process change.

For example, at Hong Kong International Airport the authority implemented a new process that effectively ensures that each piece of luggage would be placed into the right ULD (Unit Loading Device), or the large metal container used by carriers for storing luggage on their aircraft. Let me explain:

Once a bag ends its journey on the conveyor system to the lateral, a baggage handler places it into the associated ULD for a specific flight. When one considers the huge volume of bags at HKG, especially during peak times, there is a considerable amount of pressure to get bags loaded quickly and securely onto the flight. Invariably, errors are made whereby a bag is placed into the wrong container. In order to reduce the error rate, Hong Kong International Airport requested their partner, Symbol Technologies, to create an RFID field in front of the ULDs. As such when the RFID tag on the piece of luggage passes through the field in front of the ULD, it registers a clear cut signal visually and audibly to advise the handler whether or not that bag is being placed correctly. In other words, if a bag tagged for LAX is incorrectly placed into it an ULD destined for LAS, the handler would be advised immediately of that error. It's a process change that developed because of RFID technology, something that could not be achieved with an optical barcode system.

To answer your question concisely, the issue right now is determining the ROI. To fairly asses the financial benefit, an airline or airport must take account of the effective process change that RFID brings to an operation. Certainly HKG has proven what can be achieved with RFID, and the technology has demonstrated similar benefits via process change in other verticals as well. It is just a matter of time before airlines and airports reap those benefits as they further experience and exploit the advantages of RFID.

Question: Do you think RFID tag is going to completely replace barcode for airline baggage tracking?

Answer: I do. Initially it will be a gradual process. But as the benefits of the technology are realized and its costs are reduced, I envision an accelerated adaptation to the point where it will become the standard within five years.

About Michael Saunders

Michael Saunders has been active in aviation through his entire career. Utilizing both the actual experience he obtained in both operations and sales & marketing while at Swissair, and applying the knowledge from his MBA studies, he was instrumental in developing the Common Use platform (CUTE) for SITA including the formation of the separate business unit dedicated to the provision of IT solutions for airports. Following a three year stay as vice president for sales & marketing for ServiceTec, a software and hardware support organization for airports, he joined Matrics, Inc. the RFID Company out of Rockville, Md, as director of aviation, in early 2004. Following the acquisition of Matrics, by Symbol Technologies, Inc., Michael headed sales in the RFID transportation sector. He was recently promoted as the director of aviation. Michael represents Symbol in IATA's Strategic Partner Program, and contributed to the adaptation of the RFID standards recently passed by that organization in November of 2005. He also represents Symbol at the Airport Council International -- North America (ACI-NA) BITCOMM (Business IT Committee) meetings which include all the CIOs of the major airports of North America.