We all have to deal with baggage sometime, and Houston Airports (HAS) is no exception – literally!

HAS continues to deal with baggage as it advances steadily toward achieving its vision to Establish Houston as a five-star global air service gateway where the magic of flight is celebrated.

John Allen, Project Manager at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), recently discussed the T-Extension Bag Belt Project in Terminal D, a small but highly impactful 12-day project that added 25 feet of ticket counter baggage belt as well as a T-merge where the east and west side of the west ticket belt come together.

“What it does for the carriers is pretty big,” Allen said. “The foreign flag carriers use that belt, and their customers typically travel with a lot of heavy baggage, with a majority on their way to India and to the Middle East. Seventy-lb. bags are pretty typical for many of the passengers.”

Before the extension, the airlines had to manhandle the bags in getting them into the system, and many time bags would pile up behind the counter. Then, as the passenger numbers thinned out, the airline staff would move the heavy bags. Allen said that the extension has taken away the need for stacking and made the ticket agents very happy.

Baggage handling systems and processes that operate at peak efficiency improve customer satisfaction without a doubt. This effort illustrates IAH’s continued emphasis on striving for exceptional customer service.

Additionally, Allen referenced another recent improvement at Terminal D.  Modernized sales counters were added on the west side of the terminal. All of the old plastic laminate units have been replaced with stainless steels units.

“We added airline sales counters, as well as the tax-free counter and wheelchair services, or Terminal D services as it’s called,” Allen said.

Qatar Airways, Emirates, and Turkish Airlines are the three airlines that will occupy the sales counters. The team was able to modernize the look of the building with these updated counters. The existing sales counters adjacent to Starbucks will be removed, which will free up a much-needed seating area around Starbucks.”

The Manhattan Construction Group served as the General Contractor on both efforts.