System to speed air check-ins

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KAHULUI - State airports officials on Wednesday dedicated a "state-of-the-art" system at the Kahului Airport that will allow airlines and passengers greater flexibility during the flight check-in process.

The new Common Use Passenger Processing System allows any airline to use any ticket counter and boarding gate location in the airport, which could lead to shorter lines and wait times for passengers.

"You find the same at the busiest airports in the world," said state Airports Deputy Director Brian Sekiguchi.

Ticket agents will still be at check-in counters for each airline, but agents will now have the option of expanding to open ticket counters when they have long lines or need more space. No longer will they be tied down to specific computers at assigned counter spaces in the ticket lobby.

With a "common use" system that links all computer terminals, ticket agents will be able to retrieve their airline's data on any of the terminals at any counter.

For passengers without luggage to check in, the self-service touch screen kiosks along the counters eventually are all to be linked, allowing the passenger to use any of the devices to check in and print a boarding pass.

Passengers who have luggage to check will still need to see a ticket agent to have the luggage tagged. But airline agents will have the option to use more counter spaces if the demand is high.

Passengers with luggage also have the option of utilizing airport porters, who say the new common use terminals will allow them to process luggage and check-ins faster.

"The reason why it made a lot of sense here is we don't have as big structure as we would like to have," Sekiguchi said of the system installed at Kahului.

There was no room to expand the ticket lobby, and airlines needed to share check-in desks, he said. That is difficult with proprietary equipment, but having a common information system works.

"This is a significant project for us. It's the first Common Use Passenger Processing System in the state of Hawaii. It offers state-of-the-art technology," Se-kiguchi said.

In addition to the upgrade linking computer terminals, the state dedicated new flat-screen monitors behind the check-in counters. Their images can be changed depending on which airline is using them.

In the renovations of the departures section, 84 ticket counters were replaced with 107 new ones. The cost for the upgrades was $7.2 million.

Travelers on hand for the dedication of the upgraded facilities approved Wednesday.

"It's great," said Crystal Laita of Reedley, Calif., as she checked in for her United Airlines flight several counters down from the long lines at the United counter.

She and husband Christian avoided the long check-in line at the United counter by using one of the new self-service kiosks. They didn't have luggage to check in.

"This is awesome," Christian Laita said.

"We were anticipating having to wait in that line and we don't," said Crystal Laita.

George Nunes, an airport porter, also liked the upgrades.

"It gives us, the porters, an opportunity to expedite the passengers a lot faster," he said as his fellow porters used a ticket kiosk to check in other United passengers.

State Sen. J. Kalani English, chairman of the Senate Transportation and International Affairs Committee, said the upgrades are among the projects to benefit Maui in the Airports Modernization Plan that the Legislature approved with an allocation of $2.3 billion over the next 12 years.

Out of that allocation, $200 million is designated for projects at Kahului Airport, English said.

Also on hand for the dedication was Rep. Joe Souki, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, who injected a sobering note to the festive spirit. "All what we need now is to get the tourists back," he said to the crowd.

After the ceremony, Kahului Airport Manager Marvin Moniz said passenger traffic is down about 10 percent to 12 percent with the slowing economy. Kahului Airport averages around 6.5 million passengers a year, he said.

Still, the airport is better prepared to handle larger crowds, Moniz said. All the airlines will benefit from the upgrades while travelers should find the the facilities more convenient, he said.

There are more upgrades to come, including a system to streamline luggage screening and additional monitors to advise passengers with detailed information on Transportation Security Administration restrictions. Moniz said having the information on materials barred from carry-on bags will allow passengers time to put the items into their checked luggage.

Installation of the new systems began in February. The entire system became fully operational this month.

Engineers for the project were Bowers + Kubota Consulting Inc. The contractor was SITA and construction manager was TM Designers. Design consultants were AvAir Pros along with Bowers + Kubota.

* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@ mauinews.com.