New Baggage System Postponed until January for DFW Airport

Nov. 3, 2004
System promises speedier checks and better security, but process will take more time

It will be three more months before Dallas/Fort Worth Airport begins using a new baggage-handling system that promises speedier check-ins and better security.

The first parts of the complex system, which includes bomb-detecting machines and inspection stations hidden under each terminal, was scheduled to be operational by now.

But airport officials announced Tuesday at a committee meeting that the system will gradually be turned on starting in January and will become fully operational with the opening of Terminal D next summer.

"We need to adjust the completion dates to line up with TSA Transportation Security Administration review and testing before they go online," said Clay Paslay, D/FW executive vice president of airport development.

Paslay said construction of a vast network of conveyor belts and underground rooms where the agency's equipment will go is "virtually complete."