Customer relations management: service operations: simulation's role in baggage screening at the airports: a case study

The Aviation and Transportation Security Act passed by Congress in November, 2001 required the nation's airports to perform 100% checked baggage screening by December 31, 2002. To determine the impact of this requirement on its operations, Lambert St. Louis International Airport (STL) requested TransSolutions to evaluate the equipment and facility requirements to meet 100% checked baggage screening for all airlines serving STL. Discrete event simulation models were developed to evaluate passenger service levels for each alternative option considered, relative to the airport performance metric that 95% of all passengers in the peak hour would wait no longer than additional 10 minutes for baggage screening. Various protocols with different machine requirements were tested, and the "Drop-and-Go" option was chosen as the most viable alternative. This paper discusses how simulation was used to help the airport's decision making process.