Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport Transforms Operations Using Data
Genetec Security Center provides a view of activities from Muhammad Ali Airport terminal to tarmac and insights to decrease wait times.
Photo courtesy of Genetec
MONTRÉAL — Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF), a civil and military airport in Kentucky, is using Genetec Security Center to “drive operational improvements to enhance efficiency and security while improving customer experience,” according to a company announcement.
Muhammad Ali International Airport serves more than 4.6 million passengers annually and processes more than six billion pounds of cargo through the UPS Worldport, the center point of their worldwide air network and the largest automated package handling facility in the world.
As part of its SDF Next Program, a $500 million capital improvement initiative, the airport built a new state-of-the-art command center, where a dedicated team oversees everything from airport operations and employee badging to physical security.
Creating a Unified Airport Operations Center
“We wanted to design an airport operations center (AOC) and choose advanced technology that would bring information to us,” says Megan Thoben, vice president of operations and customer engagement at Louisville Regional Airport Authority.
“Ultimately, we needed solutions that gave our specialists a more cohesive, data-driven experience while overseeing badging, security, and airside and landside operations,” she says.
The Genetec Security Center platform “brings multiple security and airport-specific technologies into one intuitive experience with the option to add new integrations over time” according to the company announcement. Operators can work from one centralized view to respond to incidents, handle badging tasks, and collect valuable business insights.
Photo courtesy of Genetec
Addressing Muhammad Ali Airport Baggage Claim Delays
One of the first challenges SDF addressed using Genetec Security Center was recurring baggage claim delays. By integrating their flight information display system (FIDS) with the Genetec Airport Operations Module (AOM), SDF can now track when a plane reaches the gate and when the baggage handler swipes their card at the carousel.
“If more than 30 minutes pass between the plane’s arrival and the badge scan, we get an alert and can dispatch our team to address the issue,” says Thoben. This data not only reduces delays, but it also provides airlines with insights to adjust their staffing and operations.
Future Plans of Expanding Coverage
As SDF continues to modernize, the airport is looking to extend security coverage to Bowman Field (LOU), a smaller, general aviation-reliever airport nearby, using Genetec Security Center SaaS. The cloud-based platform will allow SDF to manage both sites from a single system, minimizing infrastructure costs while ensuring comprehensive security monitoring.
“I challenge other airports to think more broadly about what they can do with the systems they already have in place,” says Thoben. “There’s so much data that we’re collecting, so how can we use that to get a fuller picture of what’s happening across our airports? We’re just scratching the surface of what’s possible.”
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