Baggage handling system and method using artificial intelligence

A system for controlling handling of baggage for aircraft arrivals and departures at an airport, comprising:

• a plurality of user devices to be carried by baggage tug drivers and mounted to tug vehicles, each of the plurality of user devices configured to present notifications to baggage tug drivers of task assignments;
• and
• a computer system configured to perform operations including:
• obtaining flight schedule data for aircraft arrivals and departures at an airport for a period of time;
• obtaining data describing aircraft gate locations at the airport;
• on a periodic basis, running a baggage handling process to determine baggage handling task assignments for a predetermined period of time that partially overlaps with a previous iteration of the baggage handling process, wherein the baggage handling process includes:
• estimating times to complete offloading of baggage items from each arriving aircraft;
• estimating a cutoff time associated with each baggage item to determine whether there is sufficient time to put the baggage item in a baggage storage room and subsequently retrieve it for transport to a departure gate for a connecting flight;
• determining a task type for each baggage item, the task type including one of:
• a local run for a baggage item that is at its final destination, a tail-to-tail run for transporting a connecting baggage item from an arrival gate to a departure gate for a connecting flight, and a baggage storage room run to temporarily store the baggage item in a baggage room for later retrieval to transport to a departure gate for a connecting flight;
• and
• determining assignments of tasks for each baggage item to baggage tug drivers based on locations of baggage tug drivers, locations of in-progress tasks to be completed by drivers, and workload distribution across a plurality of baggage tug drivers;
• and
• transmitting messages to respective ones of the plurality of user devices, the messages notifying respective baggage tug drivers of task assignments.

One or more non-transitory computer readable storage media encoded with instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform operations including:

• obtaining flight schedule data for aircraft arrivals and departures at an airport for a period of time;
• obtaining data describing aircraft gate locations at the airport;
• on a periodic basis, running a baggage handling process to determine baggage handling task assignments for a predetermined period of time that partially overlaps with a previous iteration of the baggage handling process, wherein the baggage handling process includes:
• estimating times to complete offloading of baggage items from each arriving aircraft;
• estimating a cutoff time associated with each baggage item to determine whether there is sufficient time to put the baggage item in a baggage storage room and subsequently retrieve it for transport to a departure gate for a connecting flight;
• determining a task type for each baggage item, the task type including one of:
• a local run for a baggage item that is at its final destination, a tail-to-tail run for transporting a connecting baggage item from an arrival gate to a departure gate for a connecting flight, and a baggage storage room run to temporarily store the baggage item in a baggage room for later retrieval to transport to a departure gate for a connecting flight;
• and
• determining assignments of tasks for each baggage item to baggage tug drivers based on locations of baggage tug drivers, locations of in-progress tasks to be completed by drivers, and workload distribution across a plurality of baggage tug drivers;
• and
• transmitting messages to hand-held devices carried by baggage tug drivers and/or to tug vehicle mounted devices, the messages notifying respective baggage tug drivers of task assignments.