Denver Airport Baggage-

handling System Failure

PRESENTED BY:-
MAHAM MAHMOOD
NOOR FATIMA
Denver International Airport
Background

 The baggage handling System was to be at the heart of

the new Denver International airport.
 The airport expanded for more than 53 sq. miles. This
airport was to be the model for airports of the future.
 The goal of the DABHS was to improve ground
efficiency and decrease time consuming manual
sorting and handling of baggage.
 The baggage handling system at the new Denver
International Airport was to become one of the most
notorious examples of project failure.
 The system was to be the ultimate in handling luggage
for the entire airport. As it turned out to be more
complex than originally thought.
 The airport was supposed to open in October, 1993. It
actually opened in February , 1995. It was 16 months
late and 200 million dollars over budget.
 Expenditure to maintain the empty airport and interest
charges on construction loans cost the city of Denver
$1.1M per day throughout the delay.
Design of Denver Baggage system
 When the airport was finally opened it utilized a manual tug
system. The portion of the advanced baggage handling
system that was utilized never worked as it was designed.
With no fail safe designed into the system it would end up
eating up passengers luggage.

 The system never worked well and in August 2005, United

Airlines announced that they would abandon the system
completely. The $1 million per month maintenance costs
exceeded the monthly cost of a manual tug and trolley
system.
Project Design Problem

 The underestimation of complexity

 Lack of clear, well-thought-out goals and specifications.
 Poor management and poor communication among
customers, designers, programmers.
 Use of very new technology, with unknown reliability and
problems, perhaps for which software developers have
insufficient experience and expertise .
 Refusal to recognize or admit that a project is in trouble.
 Lack of effort.
Conclusion

The Denver disaster is a big financial loss. This system was

not beneficial for people even though it becomes a
disadvantage for destroying the luggage of the
passengers. It also waste time and money.