PORT OF SEATTLE 
MEMORANDUM 
COMMISSION AGENDA               Item No.      4b 
ACTION ITEM 
Date of Meeting      June 23, 2015 
DATE:    June 15, 2015 
TO:      Ted Fick, Chief Executive Officer 
FROM:   Dave Soike, Director Aviation Facilities and Capital Program 
Arland Fagerstrom, Manager Airlines Systems and Services 
SUBJECT:  Baggage Data Services to Support Sea-Tac Airport Operations 
Amount of This Request:    $0            Source of Funds:  Current and Future
Operating Budgets 
Est. Total Project Cost:      $750,000 
ACTION REQUESTED 
Request Commission authorization for the Chief Executive Officer to execute a contract for
supplying Baggage Source Message (BSM) data to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport for a
three-year duration with two additional single-year options.  The cost for each year of the
contract is budgeted within the annual Aviation Division operating budget and the total estimated
cost is $750,000. 
SYNOPSIS 
BSM data allows the airport to sort checked baggage to appropriate destination cities, to transfer
bags among airlines, and assists the Transportation Security Administration in ensuring that each
checked bag is safe to put aboard an aircraft. 
All airlines and all major airports share BSM data that uniquely identifies each checked bag and
its planned route through intermediate transfer airports all the way to its ultimate destination
airport. The BSM data allows Sea-Tac's baggage system to efficiently manage the flow of 14 
million departing bags annually, of which nearly 3 million are transfer bags. Continuing BSM
services allows Sea-Tac to effectively operate the baggage system and to provide good customer
service to the TSA, two dozen airlines, and the millions of travelers that the airport serves. 
BACKGROUND 
The new contract will provide BSM electronic data in a standard format that is consistent manner
that is consistent with the International Air Transport Association (IATA). This format assures
that electronic information is compatible with all airlines and airports that use it. When travelers
check a bag with an airline, a BSM is produced and matched with the traveler's itinerary. That
information is in-turn sent by the originating airline to an information broker company who in
turn shares it with other affected airports and airlines along the route of the itinerary. Airports
and airlines contract with one of the information brokers to assure that baggage information is

Template revised May 30, 2013.

COMMISSION AGENDA 
Ted Fick, Chief Executive Officer 
June 15, 2015 
Page 2 of 4 
shared appropriately. There are multiple highly capable information brokers that the airport will
involve in its competitive procurement process in order to establish a new contract for this
electronic data sharing service. 
BSM's are vital to operating an effective baggage service at Sea-Tac. All incoming transfer bags
from all eleven foreign flag international airlines benefit from having a BSM service. Without
an automated BSM, fewer travelers would be able to connect to their next flight without exiting
the secure airport area, claiming their bag, finding the ticketing counter of their next airline,
checking in the bag, and proceeding through security again. With an automated BSM many
travelers can simply walk straight to their next flight, and know that their bag will be routed to
that flight.
BSM's also allow the airport to provide good service to domestic airlines by being able to
pinpoint exactly where the airline wants the bag delivered to in order to speed the airline workers 
flow of bags to each of many departing flights to various destinations.  For example
approximately 95% of Alaska Airlines, 80% of Delta Airlines, and 50% of United Airlines
baggage flows benefit operationally from the airport's BSM contract service. 
The current BSM vendor, SITA, has been under contract since 2004 to provide this service.
With technology changes and upgrades there are now multiple vendors who can provide this
service. SITA will be allowed to compete for this new contract that will be procured. 
PROJECT JUSTIFICATION AND DETAILS 
The purpose of this request is to continue to receive uninterrupted BSM data service from the
winning bidder to the baggage systems at the Airport. Without BSM data, the baggage sortation
systems at the Airport will fail to sort bags to the appropriate airline make-up devices. This
failure will cause substantial operational and financial impacts to the majority of our airline
customers as well as loss of passenger goodwill. The Airport also risks substantial loss of
goodwill with our airline customers should the flow of BSM data cease. 
Scope of Work 
The vendor will provide uninterrupted BSM, BTM, and BPM data flow to/from the Airport
baggage systems. This will in turn allow airline baggage to sort properly for timely loading of
baggage on departing aircraft. 
Schedule 
An RFP for these services will be advertised in July 2015. The procurement is expected to be
completed by the end of August 2015. Before termination of the existing contract the CEO
would execute a new contract utilizing prior approved funds contained within annual operating
budgets. 
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS 
The current contract varies in total cost based on the number of BSMs generated and has
averaged approximately $110,000-$125,000 per year over the past two years. We expect that the

COMMISSION AGENDA 
Ted Fick, Chief Executive Officer 
June 15, 2015 
Page 3 of 4 
cost of a new contract will fall within that same range with an annual increase based on growth
of the airline activity at the airport. This contract is not expected to exceed $750,000 for the 5-
year period. 
Budget Status and Source of Funds 
Expenditures under this contract will be included in annual operating budgets.  The 2015
operating budget includes $150,000 for this contract work. 
STRATEGIES AND OBJECTIVES 
This project supports the Airport's strategy to "Operate a world-class international airport" by: 
Ensuring safe and secure operations 
Anticipating and meeting the needs of our tenants, passengers, and the region's economy 
ALTERNATIVES AND IMPLICATIONS CONSIDERED 
Alternative 1)  Extend the current contract on a year-by-year basis. The current vendor has
been in place at the airport since 2004 when the existing baggage systems required BSM
sortation. However, the current vendor's contract may or may not be the best contract. It is
possible the incumbent will be the successful bidder, but extending the current contract is not
necessarily the least costly option for BSM provision. This is not the recommended alternative. 
Pros: 
Current vendor is a known entity having provided consistent service since 2004. 
No change to architecture or data feed required. No testing period required. No lapse in
service to our customers. 
Current vendor revised their pricing plan in recent years to lower the overall cost to the
airport. 
Cons: 
May not be the least expensive option. 
Does not meet airport procurement processes for competitive bidding. 
Alternative 2)  Require airlines to provide their own BSM data connection to the Airport
baggage systems or use a secondary manual 'pier tag' in addition to the standard tag. This tag
would need to be applied by airline staff at the point of baggage check-in. The pier tag would be
specific to the various piers and make-up devices that airlines use to prepare baggage for loading
onto aircraft. Discontinued use of BSMs and a requirement for airlines to provide their own
BSM feed and/or purchase and use pier tags for sortation of their bags would relieve the Port of
all costs for sortation. Generally, this option will not provide the necessary data for ALL airlines
and would not provide for an automated transfer solution for bags transferring between airlines.
This would increase the amount of manual handling of baggage to a significant degree. No
major airport gateway moves bags in such a manual manner. This is not the recommended
alternative.

COMMISSION AGENDA 
Ted Fick, Chief Executive Officer 
June 15, 2015 
Page 4 of 4 
Pros: 
No cost to the Port for the BSM feed/service. 
Airlines responsible for the BSM feed/service. 
Cons: 
Airlines with less frequent flights at Sea-Tac may choose not to participate which could
result in improper bag sortation, and disruption to overall airport operations. Without an
airport provided system to serve all airlines, a cumbersome system would have to be put
in place forcing airlines staff to manually print and add a second tag to most bags. The
second tag would direct the bag to certain locations within the airport where the airline
would then pick up the bag and take it to the aircraft.  Both timely delivery and proper
tracking of bags would suffer. 
Port would not have the data stream that provides significant information for passenger
and baggage operational effectiveness metrics. 
Alternative 3)  Conduct a competitive bidding process to enable the airport to procure the
best available terms for the next several years. Several known companies can provide a similar
service for BSMs. This is the recommended alternative. 
Pros: 
Will be able to test the marketplace to determine if there is a better, lower cost provider
available. 
Can schedule the transition to provide an overlap of service to ensure no interruption in 
performance to our customers. 
Cons: 
As with any new vendor, start-up challenges that cannot now be predicted may occur.
This is why staff is requesting to initiative the competitive procurement now to provide
ample time for continuity and testing from the existing service to the new service
contractor. 
There is a risk that a new contract will exceed the existing contract price, or that
negotiations will be lengthy requiring a temporary extension of the existing contract. 
ATTACHMENTS TO THIS REQUEST 
None 
PREVIOUS COMMISSION ACTIONS OR BRIEFINGS 
None