New Automated Baggage Screening System

Within two weeks, Dayton International Airport will begin operating a new automated baggage system that will screen luggage for explosives and automatically divert suspicious bags for examination by transportation security officers.

A $10 million grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security paid for the system, making Dayton the 77th U.S. airport to receive one. Dayton added $8.5 million to extend the airport’s terminal building to make room for the new machines, remodel the lobby and move the machines behind a wall. The five old screening machines are to be removed from the lobby in late June, after being retained for about a month as backup if the new system has problems.

The system will go live on May 17, after U.S. Transportation Security Administration officers finish training on it, TSA officials said Thursday as they gave a preview of the equipment. The city, TSA and a contractor have spent the past two months testing the system to correct problems, city officials said.

Passengers will be able to hand off their luggage at airline counters, where a conveyor belt will move it behind a wall for automatic screening. Airport officials hope that will streamline the check-in process for passengers. Behind the wall, TSA officers can use vacuum lifts to hoist baggage off conveyors for safety inspections, eliminating the current need to manually lift hundreds of bags each day. If a bag isn’t diverted for inspection, it should travel from the terminal lobby to baggage handlers in about five minutes, Fotenos said.

City officials said they are anticipating that the TSA may eventually reduce its 120-person work force at the Dayton airport, because the automated baggage system is supposed to replace the manual baggage handling that TSA officers are now doing there. TSA officials said, though, that the current work force will be retained with more officers free to focus on passenger screenings and other security duties. TSA headquarters reassesses local airport security staffing each year, taking into account passenger traffic and other factors, Fotenos said.

It is the latest phase of an extensive makeover of the airport that has included construction of a parking garage, new air traffic control tower and installation of two additional security checkpoint lanesin the terminal. The Federal Aviation Administration plans to begin operating the new air traffic control tower June 4. Once the old screening machines are removed from the terminal lobby, airport officials plan to install new carpeting and remodel restrooms, airport spokeswoman Linda Hughes said.