Comment Old Atlanta does what New Denver is supposed to (Score 1) 268
The poor planning and consequential failure of DIA baggage handling system must have a great cause buried somewhere in a combination of arrogance, ignorance, and failure to learn from past SUCCESSES.
In 1981 Boeing and Eastern Air Lines and Delta unveiled William B. Hartsfield International (Atlanta) airport's people mover system and baggage handling system. The baggage handling system uses barcoded carts and scanners, magnetic field cart door stops, and more widgets that were state-of-the-art 25 years ago -- and the system still keeps on hauling bags.
(Before increased security) The baggage system was so fast and accurate that if you drove up to the terminal and gave the agent your bag and ticket, your bag would be on the airplane in about four minutes. You might not make your flight, but your bag was gone.
Eastern is gone and Delta took over the baggage systems and the airport grew. The system works great. Most of Delta's Atlanta baggage system "failures" occur when humans "cause" the failures.
So why wasn't DIA able to improve upon or even replicate the success of Atlanta ten years later? Isn't stealing code the highest form of flattery? Did they bother to talk to Boeing? Did they bother to find the engineers that made Atlanta a success? The Eastern engineers are obviously no longer employed at Eastern! (Note: Federal Express hired some of the Eastern engineers to work on their hubs.) (There was an unconfirmed rumor that when DIA's baggage system was unveiled to failure, they tried to track down the Eastern engineers to get them to fix it. I know that one Eastern engineer disconnected his phone to avoid any headhunters.)
I do think the NYT article is a little disingenuous -- with more than a little pro-union slant. If humans don't want a machine to work, they can make it not work. (Luddites and unions for example.) On the union's side: driving half way to Nebraska to catch a flight "from Denver" makes one wonder about the airport planners' competence...
BONUS for reading this far: Ever wonder why there is an underground tunnel from the high number gates of Atlanta's B concourse to the high number gates of C concourse, but there is no underground concourse at the low number gate ends? When Hartsfield was built, Delta had A concourse and the low half of B. Eastern had C concourse and high half of B. Eastern thought that it only made sense to connect the high ends to make it easier on the passengers, but Eastern didn't show all of its cards to Delta. When the airport was opened and the high B-C concourse tunnel was unveiled, Delta was surprised.
In 1981 Boeing and Eastern Air Lines and Delta unveiled William B. Hartsfield International (Atlanta) airport's people mover system and baggage handling system. The baggage handling system uses barcoded carts and scanners, magnetic field cart door stops, and more widgets that were state-of-the-art 25 years ago -- and the system still keeps on hauling bags.
(Before increased security) The baggage system was so fast and accurate that if you drove up to the terminal and gave the agent your bag and ticket, your bag would be on the airplane in about four minutes. You might not make your flight, but your bag was gone.
Eastern is gone and Delta took over the baggage systems and the airport grew. The system works great. Most of Delta's Atlanta baggage system "failures" occur when humans "cause" the failures.
So why wasn't DIA able to improve upon or even replicate the success of Atlanta ten years later? Isn't stealing code the highest form of flattery? Did they bother to talk to Boeing? Did they bother to find the engineers that made Atlanta a success? The Eastern engineers are obviously no longer employed at Eastern! (Note: Federal Express hired some of the Eastern engineers to work on their hubs.) (There was an unconfirmed rumor that when DIA's baggage system was unveiled to failure, they tried to track down the Eastern engineers to get them to fix it. I know that one Eastern engineer disconnected his phone to avoid any headhunters.)
I do think the NYT article is a little disingenuous -- with more than a little pro-union slant. If humans don't want a machine to work, they can make it not work. (Luddites and unions for example.) On the union's side: driving half way to Nebraska to catch a flight "from Denver" makes one wonder about the airport planners' competence...
BONUS for reading this far: Ever wonder why there is an underground tunnel from the high number gates of Atlanta's B concourse to the high number gates of C concourse, but there is no underground concourse at the low number gate ends? When Hartsfield was built, Delta had A concourse and the low half of B. Eastern had C concourse and high half of B. Eastern thought that it only made sense to connect the high ends to make it easier on the passengers, but Eastern didn't show all of its cards to Delta. When the airport was opened and the high B-C concourse tunnel was unveiled, Delta was surprised.
