Vegas Airport Takes Off with RFID When a passenger checks a bag at McCarran ticket counter, an airline agent places a 21-inch RFID tag on the bag, either by using a printer that includes a roll of tags or by peeling one from a sheet. Each passive, UHF tag includes a read-only microchip and a small antenna. "Take one glance at the tag, and you won't even notice the chip," Ingalls says. The only data encoded on the chip by Matrics is a unique, 10-digit ID number. Other information, including passenger name, passenger security status, airline and flight number, are "live" after the passenger checks the bag. From that point, the data is associated with the 10-digit number and stored in a computer database on McCarran's server. "The beauty of a read-only chip is that someone could use a reader to read a bag tag, but all he would see is 10-digit number that makes no sense," Ingalls says. "All the important information is in the database and not physically on the bag tag." The agent drops the bag on a conveyor belt behind the ticket counter. The belt leads to one of 12 eXaminer® 3DX 6000 explosive detection and screening (EDS) machines from L-3 Communications, New York City. (A trend is for airports to place such machines in baggage conveyor lines instead of making them visible in airport lobbies.) RFID readers read the tag as it enters and leaves the machine. Those time stamps are sent automatically to the database. If needed, authorized personnel could verify that Bag 1234567891 entered EDS Machine 3 at 10:03:04 a.m. and left at 10:03:07 a.m. If a bag fails to clear the explosive-screening machine, it's sent to a special facility to be hand-checked. When the EDS machine scans the bag, it verifies the airline and plane number for the passenger associated with it. The conveyor system automatically routes each bag to its correct "pier," which are holding areas shared by several flights. If Flight 111 is loading from Pier 3, the conveyor will route all bags for that flight to there, so employees can pick them from the belt and take them to the correct plane. If a baggage holder wants to double-check that all bags for a flight are correct, he or she can use a handheld device to "shoot" bags simultaneously while they're on a unit-load device (ULD), the metal crate that carries bags to planes. Throughout the process, green lights indicate that all bags are correct. FKI Logistex, Louisville, Ky., provides McCarran with the intelligent conveyor system, plus the design and architecture of the RFID baggage-tracking system. McCarran awarded the company with an $8 million contract when it awarded Matrics with its $25 million contract for RFID tags. During the next five years, the RFID system is expected to cost McCarran $125 million, but the TSA is paying $94 million of that amount. "This becomes a win for all concerned-the traveler, the airport, the TSA and the airline-by reducing the incidence of lost or mishandled bags while ensuring screened bags are delivered to the right place at the right time," Walker says. The first phase of McCarran's RFID project involves five airlines and 40 percent of airport travelers. The next phase, which likely will be completed in two years, will include use of a facility that screens off-site baggage coming from hotels and car-rental companies, as well as two other screening facilities to handle baggage checked in at the airport's main terminal, Ingalls said. Later, an RFID transponder will be integrated with the baggage tag, and each airline will write its own code to the tag when it's printed.