FAA to visit Palm Springs Airport to help find solutions to overloaded baggage system
The Palm Springs Airport Commission is working with TSA, FAA, and airlines to determine the best next steps in solving challenges with the overloaded baggage handling system. As News Channel 3 reported weeks ago, Palm Springs International Airport is facing issues with its multi-million dollar baggage handling system, despite it being just more than 1 year old.
The Airport Commission's Operations, Properties, and Facilities Committee met Wednesday by teleconference to talk about the Baggage Handling System, Parking Capacity, and the Car Rental Facility, among other topics.
The FAA is planning to visit Palm Springs International Airport next week, it was announced in the meeting. Their goal is "to get eyes on the system" and help the facility leaders make a plan for the years ahead.
"Our current baggage handling system just really isn't handling the capacity that we currently are seeing in terms of passenger throughput, and the number of bags that have come through, we really see the pinch points, frankly, and not only the types of bags, because we typically have a lot more golf bags here than most airports do. But we also see the pinch points relative to the system design," a committee member noted Wednesday.
"As we get some congestion start to occur, we're getting ahead of it. Although it's manual labor, we're doing it," it was noted in the meeting.
There are efforts underway to approach the issues "from all angles." This includes ensuring there is enough TSA personnel there, but even in those cases the "screening machines are also a limitation." The airport is working with TSA to possibly bring in another screening machine.
Long term solutions
The warranty on the new baggage system ended in the middle of August. Aside from short-term modifications and adding staffing, the Commission noted that a longer-term solution was in the hands of the city attorney. There was not a definite timeline given for the process.
Design constraints bring backlogs
"What essentially is the problem is the design of the system," said Harry Barrett, executive director of Palm Springs International Airport speaking at a July Airport Commission meeting. "There are some physical constraints that are making a challenging for the system to deliver bags... That's what's been causing the backlog at the ticket counter."
The solution, for now, is to spend $700,000 to have employees move bags manually so that their baggage system does not clog up. That's a short-term solution airport commissioner said can get them through a year or two at most – but the whole system will need a complete replacement for the long haul. "We are likely to have to go into another construction project to remedy," Barrett said.
WATCH: $7M PSP baggage system needs replacing after 1 year
In a March meeting, Barrett said he believed the system should be able to handle 2,500 bags per hour.
But city officials say the system is reaching capacity at about 700-800 bags per hour. At peak times, they say baggage is bottlenecking.
One of the nation's fastest-growing airports
The baggage handling shortfalls come as the airport is seeing record growth.
‼News Release‼ PSP was named one of the fastest growing airports in the country last month, and we're among the top 3 most recovered airports in the country this fall. Plus, our 12th passenger record was set in July! Read more here: https://t.co/MR0gAnVcpE
— Palm Springs International Airport (@flyPSP) August 25, 2022
"PSP was named one of the fastest growing airports in the country last month, and we're among the top 3 most recovered airports in the country this fall. Plus, our 12th passenger record was set in July!" the airport shared in late August.
According to airport data, July 2022 was the busiest month on record, with 133,664 passengers passing through PSP. In July, the airport tweeted: "Palm Springs' summer capacity has expanded even more significantly, with just under two million seats this year. That's an increase of 48% over S19, with over 630,000 added. And it's up by 22% and 349,000 over S21, its previous record."
$7 million baggage system
Last August, just more than a year ago, Palm Springs city officials celebrated the airport's new $36 million renovation project that included an expansion to the ticket lobby and what officials at the time called a "state-of-the-art" outbound baggage system, which Barrett said cost about $7 million.
At a recent Palm Springs city council meeting, city leaders without discussion approved spending more than $700,000 over the next 7 months to pay personnel to "manually move baggage," as to not clog up the system – a "labor intensive" process officials said "will need to be continued year-over-year."
As a result, in the summer meeting, commissioners said passengers will be asked to arrive 2 hours ahead of their departure, or their bags could be left behind.
