The check-in Process and the Excess Baggage Problem
Although not central to this thread, the Check-in Process has come up frequently, especially in regard to 'new' ways of remote check-in, coupled with round-trip check-in etc.
Although the use of the internet as the medium is recent, many of the 'new' methods can be traced to trials (and tribulations) carried out from the mid-1970's onwards. These were all marketing driven and inevitably even the most carefully planned (not many) uncovered problems and pitfalls that the designers of the scheme had not-forseen (usually in part because they had never monitored sufficiently, nor understood the processes involved and rarely if ever sought the advice of people who worked on check-in).
Many of these methods have been revived in recent years and some are now mainstream, at least with certain carriers. But the lessons learned in the original trials have in the main been forgotten, or lost. So again the designers have started from scratch and it appears made exactly the same mistakes again (ranging from Equipment Siting, fully integrating the additional method into the processes, exception handling, etc) An example of history teaching us nothing if we aren't listening.
So I am not surprised that route stations in particular have and are experiencing problems with some of the new 'methods' as the requirement definitions and design would, if it even considered the Check-in and Gate Area ergonomics at all, have concentrated on Main Base, and/or Main Hubs (and therefore any project costs involving Check-in/Gate Equipment would ignore the route stations) Plus any late alpha and beta testing on a realistic scale with involve high cost. So final 'beta' would tend to be as part of the production implementation and as implementation support is concentrated at the critical points (i.e. High Volume), a Route Station can feel pain, with no locally available asprin to ease it.
As SLF I have experienced most of the 'new' versions in action and in the case of some Airports reverted to the Check-in Queue. Where well implemented, they can be extremely convienent for the Passenger, where however the equipment is badly sited, or in the case of remote check-in the software is not 'robust' normally because it is a 'quick and nasty bolt-on' rather than being designed and project managed as a major change. As an example which happened to me: From the Hotel the Web Front End of the System Consistently Refused to check me in, but when I arrived at Airport Check-in I found that it had a total 5 timesm something impossible to do from a CUTE, or Networked PC/Terminal - As the PSA took it well I suspect this was not the first time it had happened!
As a Passenger, because of the Stamps in my Passport, I am now resigned for being selected for additional Security checks, but from observation (and going through some checks does give time to observe :-) once an enhanced security process has been implemented for a while, if properly resourced and the staff have gained experience, overall it doesn't cause any major impact on Ground Time, it is the implementation and immediate afermath that causes a problem (Although immediately Post 9/11 was extreme, I went through 4 Security Checks on one Flight - The Normal Check and Three Personal Checks, although I scored the Maximum, I wasn't alone and it was partly a case of left/hand right hand and the queues were mega - A couple of Months later same flight - I scored three checks, but the process was smooth and as painless as one could expect).
As someone who has spent much of their career in Airline Systems (mainly Operational rather Passenger Related) I was disappointed to hear that something as basic as POB+Infants wasn't handled correctly in Production, even if this appeared to be a one-off glitch.
Excess baggage: From Opsix' Post once again an example of cost based handling resulting in a problem. If a route has a high level of excess baggage (e.g. LGW/LHR LOS) then you either resource (and pay for) check-in to handle it (i.e NOT two Agents/Desks), or you wave it through (unless it is so gross that ignoring it is impossible) as long as the weights and/or pieces are correct.
If you are not going to resource for it and still 'discipline' staff for not dealing with the excess then your going to cop late closeouts and delays (and still not get the real amount of excess owed).
189 People in 80 Minutes, through two desks would be good throughput for a DCS based Check-in. A 2 Desk Manual Check-in can in certain circumstances achieve higher rates, but only if the desks are prepared with Pre-written/printed Tags, Cards and Shared Seat Plan. But an all Manual System does require A Coupon Control and is from a Back-office viewpoint less than ideal
Sorry gone (even) further off topic than intended
DIH
Last edited by Opssys; 11th April 2006 at 13:37.