Novel method to secure airline travel

• US 20030141411A1
• Filed: 04/12/2002
• Published: 07/31/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Alpa Pandya, Ashish Pandya
• Original Assignee: Alpa Pandya, Ashish Pandya
• Inventors: Pandya, Ashish, Pandya, Alpa
• Application Number:
  US10/122,014
• Publication Number:
  US 20030141411A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 244/114R
• CPC Class Codes: B64F 1/366 Check-in counters
• CPC Class Codes: B64F 1/368 Arrangements or installations for routing, distributing or loading baggage
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events

Abstract

Our invention is a secure air travel system and method that eliminates security risks associated with passenger baggage by not allowing checked baggage and most carry-on baggage on the airliners that carry passengers. This method creates a two separate classes of air carriers or two classes of air carrier flights. One class transports passengers only and the other class transports only luggage of passengers between various locations. By eliminating the checked bags and most carry-on bags on the passenger-only flights, the security risks from weapons, bombs or other hazardous materials on these bags are totally eliminated from passenger-only flights. This mode of air travel can be implemented to co-exist with the current airlines and air travel methods.

Claims

1. An airport terminal including (a) at least one passenger carrier area for passengers to be transported on passenger flights on which no baggage other than pre-approved carry-on baggage is transported and (b) at least one baggage area for baggage other than said pre-approved carry-on baggage associated with said passengers, said baggage to be transported on baggage flights on which no passengers are transported.

3. The airport terminal of claim 1 or 2 including additional security check facilities for screening and approving said pre-approved carry-on baggage.

4. The airport terminal of claim 3 wherein said airport is the airport of departure and has facilities for passengers to check-in their baggage for transport on said baggage flights (1) by accepting baggage at the airport check-in counter or (2) by accepting baggage picked-up from its origin departure location.

5. The airport terminal of claim 3 wherein the airport is the airport of arrival having facilities for delivering baggage to arriving passengers at said destination airport or at a final destination of said passengers.

6. The airport of claim 5 wherein said final destination is the passenger'"'"'s home or place of business.

2. An airport terminal including (a) at least one passenger carrier area for passengers to be transported on passenger flights on which no baggage other than pre-approved carry-on baggage is transported, (b) at least one baggage area for baggage other than said pre-approved carry-on baggage associated with said passengers, said baggage to be transported on baggage flights on which no passengers are transported, (c) at least one passenger area for passengers to be transported on flights on which their baggage is also to be transported, and (d) at least one baggage area for baggage to be transported on said last named flights.

7. A travel departure and arrival terminal including (a) at least one passenger area for passengers transported on a passenger mode of travel on which no baggage other than pre-approved carry-on baggage is transported, and (b) at least one baggage area for baggage other than said pre-approved carry-on baggage, said baggage transported on a baggage mode of travel on which no passengers are transported.

9. The terminal of claim 7 or 8 including additional security check facilities for approving said pre-approved carry-on baggage.

10. The travel departure and arrival terminal of claim 9 wherein travel is land travel.

11. The travel departure and arrival terminal of claim 10 wherein the mode of travel is a scheduled bus.

12. The travel departure and arrival terminal of claim 9 wherein travel is water travel.

13. The travel departure and arrival terminal of claim 12 wherein the mode of travel is a scheduled watercraft.

14. The travel and departure and arrival terminal of claim 9 wherein the travel is space travel.

8. A travel departure and arrival terminal including (a) at least one passenger area for passengers transported on a passenger mode of travel on which no baggage other than pre-approved carry-on baggage is transported, and (b) at lest one baggage area for baggage other than said pre-approved carry-on baggage, said baggage transported on a baggage mode of travel on which no passengers are transported, (c) at least one passenger area for passengers to be transported on a mode of travel on which their baggage is also to be transported, and (d) at least one baggage area for baggage to be transported on said last named mode of travel.

15. An airline information system including multiple computers and multiple computer terminals for inputting data into any of said multiple computers for operating travel reservation, travel tracking, and flight scheduling processes, said information system including first computer storage containing data allowing passengers to select travel on carriers that provide for (a) passenger transportation on airline passenger flights on which no baggage other than pre-approved carry-on baggage is transported and (b) baggage transportation on baggage flights on which no passengers are transported, said selection accomplished by entering information into said information system through at least one of said multiple computer terminals.

16. The information system of claim 15 wherein said selection is accomplished by entering data through a class of said multiple computer terminals that is operated by travel agents.

17. The information system of claim 15 wherein said selection is accomplished by entering data through a class of said multiple computer terminals that is operated by the airline operating said passenger flights.

18. The information system of claim 15 wherein said selection is accomplished by entering data through one of said multiple computer terminals that is operated by the airline operating said passenger flights.

19. The information system of claim 15 further including second computer storage containing data corresponding to a list of locations at which passenger baggage will be picked up for delivery to said baggage flights, said locations being selected from the group of locations consisting of (1) check-in facilities at an airport and (2) the place of travel origin.

20. The System of claim 19 wherein said second computer storage is capable of accepting data corresponding to said locations, said data being input from one of the collection of computer terminals consisting of (a) a passenger'"'"'s computer terminal, (b) computer terminals operated by an airline, or (c) computer terminals operated by travel agents.

21. The information system of claim 15 further including third computer storage containing data corresponding to a list of locations at which passenger baggage will be delivered after baggage flight arrival at a destination terminal, said locations selected from the group consisting of (1) the destination terminal and (2) a destination other than said destination terminal.

22. The information system of claim 21 wherein said third computer storage is capable of accepting said data corresponding to said list from one of the collection of computer terminals consisting of (a) a passenger'"'"'s computer terminal, (b) a computer terminal operated by an airline, or (c) a computer terminal operated by a travel agent.

23. The information system of claim 15 further including fourth computer storage locations at which passengers may cause the inputting of data representing the passenger'"'"'s request for general seat locations selected from the locations consisting of (a) a window seat, (b) an aisle seat, and (c) groups of seats.

24. The information system of claim 23 in which said inputting of data is accomplished by inputting data from one of the collection of computer terminals consisting of (a) a passenger'"'"'s computer terminal, (b) a computer terminal operated by an airline, or (c) a computer terminal operated by a travel agent.

25. The information system of claim 24 wherein said information system records seats that are assigned to said passenger in said passenger'"'"'s requested general seat locations after said passenger arrives at the departure terminal.

26. The information system of claim 15 wherein said information system further includes fifth computer storage for storing baggage tracking information for tracking baggage during travel on said flights on which no passengers are transported.

27. The information system of claim 26 wherein said information system issues said baggage tracking information to passengers for matching said baggage tracking numbers with baggage for pick-up after baggage arrival at a destination.

28. The information system of claim 15 further including scheduling software for scheduling (1) said passenger flights and (2) said baggage flights.

29. The information system of claim 28 wherein said scheduling software can schedule said passenger flights on one route and said baggage flights on a different route.

30. The information system of claim 28 wherein said scheduling software can schedule said passenger flights through one or more airline hubs and schedule said baggage flights through one or more different airline hubs.

31. The information system of claim 28 wherein said scheduling software can schedule a passenger flight and a baggage flight through the same one or more airline hubs.

32. The information system of claim 28 wherein said scheduling software can track requests from one or more passengers to change destination to a new destination and update information in said information system to cause the baggage of said one or more passengers to arrive at said new destination.

33. The information system of claim 28 in which said scheduling software can schedule one of said passenger flights with a predetermined number of flight legs and can schedule a baggage flight carrying baggage of the passengers on said one of said airline flights with a predetermined number of flight legs different than said predetermined number of flight legs of said one of said passenger flights.

34. An airport terminal including facilities for normal flights and facilities for secure flights.

35. The airport terminal of claim 34 wherein said facilities for normal flights include terminal gates from which normal flights depart and said facilities for secure flights include terminal gates from which secure flights depart.

36. The airport terminal of claim 34 wherein said facilities for normal flights include normal security mechanisms including passenger screening systems and baggage screening systems.

37. The airport terminal of claim 34 wherein said facilities for secure flights include a special, security screening facility having queues different from those for passengers using said normal facilities.

38. The airport terminal of claim 37 wherein said special, security screening facility includes screening for health related carry-on baggage or baggage allowed or required to be carried-on by law.

39. The airport terminal of claim 38 wherein said special, security screening facility includes screening processes taken from the group of screening processes consisting of metal detectors, bomb squad operations, sniffing dogs for the detection of explosives or drugs, and X-ray screening for approving carry-on items to be pre-approved before boarding said secure flight.

40. The airport terminal of claim 34 wherein said facilities for secure flights comprises a separate section for passengers traveling on said secure flights and a baggage section for baggage transported on baggage flights that do not transport passengers.

41. The airport terminal of claim 40 wherein said facilities for secure flights further include baggage check-in facilities that provide functions of transporting said baggage from any of the collection of check-in locations consisting of curbside, ticket counter and baggage counter.

42. The airport terminal of claim 41 wherein said baggage is transported through baggage screening systems to a baggage carrier by way of said baggage section.

43. The airport terminal of claim 42 where said baggage is transported using a mechanism selected from the group of mechanisms consisting of baggage carts and conveyor belts.

44. The airport terminal of claim 40 wherein said facilities for secure flights further include one or more facilities from the collection of facilities consisting of a baggage routing station, a baggage sorting station, a baggage terminal and a separate, security baggage screening facility.

45. An airport terminal having facilities for secure flights only.

46. The airport terminal of claim 45 wherein said secure flights include passenger flights and baggage flights.

47. The airport terminal of claim 45 wherein said facilities include terminal gates from which passengers board said secure flights.

48. The airport terminal of claim 45 including first screening facilities that passengers pass through, said first screening facilities further including special screening facilities including facilities for screening passengers who unsuccessfully pass through said first screening facilities.

49. The airport terminal of claim 48 wherein said special screening facilities further includes second facilities for pre-approving predetermined classes of carry-on baggage.

50. The airport terminal of claim 45 wherein passengers traveling on said secure flights check in their baggage at one or more locations selected from the collection of locations consisting of curbside, ticket counters, baggage counters, and other pick-up areas.

51. The airport terminal of claim 45 including at least one baggage screening station, at least one baggage routing and sorting station and at least one baggage terminal.

52. The airport terminal of claim 50 wherein said baggage is transported from said one or more locations to said at least one baggage screening station.

53. The airport terminal of claim 52 wherein said baggage is transported from said at least one baggage screening station to said at least one baggage routing and sorting station.

54. The airport terminal of claim 53 wherein said baggage is transported from said at least one baggage routing and sorting station to said at least one baggage terminal.

55. An information system including multiple computers, one or more of said multiple computers located at a departure airport and one or more of said multiple computers located remotely from said departure airport, said information system further including multiple computer terminals for inputting data into any of a said multiple computers for tracking and controlling a secure air travel departure process for passengers and baggage being transported on secure flights, said secure flights including secure passenger flights on which no baggage other than pre-approved carry-on baggage is transported and baggage flights on which no passengers are transported.

56. The information system of claim 55 including first computer storage for containing data representing a passenger'"'"'s selection of a baggage pick-up location for baggage destined to a departure airport.

57. The information system of claim 56 wherein said data can be entered into said information system, said data being entered from one of the collection of computer terminals consisting of (a) a passenger'"'"'s computer terminal, (b) a computer terminal operated by an airline, or (c) a computer terminal operated by a travel agent.

58. The information system of claim 55 including second computer storage for containing data representing a passenger'"'"'s selection of a baggage drop-off location.

59. The information system of claim 58 said data being entered from one of the collection of computer terminals consisting of (a) a passenger'"'"'s computer terminal, (b) a computer terminal operated by an airline, or (c) a computer terminal operated by a travel agent.

60. The information system of claim 55 including third computer storage for containing data representing information for tracking baggage through the departure process.

61. The information system of claim 60 wherein said third computer storage is contained one or more computers located at the departure airport.

62. The information system of claim 60 wherein said third computer storage is contained in one or more computers located remotely from the departing airport.

63. The information system of claim 62 wherein said one or more of said last named one or more computers is operated by an airline offering secure passenger flights.

64. The information system of claim 62 wherein said one or more of said last named one or more computers is operated by an airline offering secure baggage flights.

65. The information system of claim 60 wherein said data representing information for tracking baggage through the departure process can be entered into said third computer storage through a terminal at the departure airport.

66. A seat assignment process in a passenger departure process using an airline information system including multiple computers, one or more of said multiple computers located at a departure airport and one or more of said multiple computers located remotely from said departure airport, said information system further including multiple computer terminals for inputting data into any of a said multiple computers for tracking and controlling a secure air travel departure process for passengers and baggage being transported on secure flights, said secure flights including secure passenger flights and secure baggage flights, the process including the steps of:

checking to determine whether the passenger has previously secured a seat assignment on a secure passenger flight,

generating a boarding pass for said passenger responsive to an indication from said checking that indicates that said passenger has previously secured a seat assignment on said flight,

assigning said passenger'"'"'s requested seat, responsive to an indication from said checking that indicates that said passenger has not previously secured a seat assignment on said flight, and

operating one of said multiple computer terminals to record within one of said multiple computers data representing the fact of said assigning and the identity of said seat that is assigned to said passenger.

67. A seat assignment process in a passenger departure process using an airline information system including multiple computers, one or more of said multiple computers located at a departure airport and one or more of said multiple computers located remotely from said departure airport, said information system further including multiple computer terminals for inputting data into any of a said multiple computers for tracking and controlling a secure air travel departure process for passengers and baggage being transported on secure flights, said secure flights including secure passenger flights and secure baggage flights, the process including the steps of:

determining a passenger'"'"'s seat location preference prior to secure flight departures,

after said passenger arrives at departure airport, assigning said passenger a seat from available seats within said passenger'"'"'s seat location preference, and

operating one of said multiple computer terminals to record said passenger'"'"'s seat assignment in said airline information system.

68. The process of claim 67 followed by the step of operating one of said multiple data terminals to enter information into at least one of said multiple computers to generate a final list of passengers boarded on the secure passenger flight.

69. A passenger security check-in process using an airline information system including multiple computers, one or more of said multiple computers located at a departure airport and one or more of said multiple computers located remotely from said departure airport, said information system further including multiple computer terminals for inputting data into any of a said multiple computers for tracking and controlling a secure air travel departure process for passengers and baggage being transported on secure flights, said secure flights including secure passenger flights and secure baggage flights, the process including the steps of:

providing passenger security check-in areas for passengers boarding secure passenger flights,

determining whether a passenger requires legally allowed carry-on items,

providing, in response to a passenger requiring legally allowed carry-on items, elaborate security screening for said carry-on items,

allowing, in response to said passenger'"'"'s legally allowed carry-on items successfully passing said elaborate security screening, said passenger to proceed to the boarding gate,

providing, in response to the elaborate screening of said passenger'"'"'s legally allowed carry-on item'"'"'s resulting in an indication of a security breach, information about said passenger to law enforcement personnel and operating one of said multiple computer terminals to record within at least one of said multiple computers information recording said security breach.

70. A baggage security, routing and departure process in an airline terminal wherein baggage is routed, is screened and is loaded on a secure baggage flight in which baggage and no passengers are transported, said airline terminal including data terminals for inputting and extracting from a computer system information for tracking said baggage and information for tracking passengers associated with said baggage, said process including the steps of:

collecting said baggage from a passenger at a collection location selected from the set of collection locations consisting of (a) curbside, (b) ticket counter, (c) baggage counter and (d) baggage pick-up remote from said terminal;

checking to determine whether said baggage is destined for said secure baggage flight;

if said baggage is so destined, passing said baggage through one or more baggage security screening devices taken from the collection of devices consisting of (a) X-ray detectors, (b) bomb detectors, (c) biohazard detectors, and (d) others required by the Federal Aviation Administration regulations;

checking said screening devices to determine whether any of said screening devices indicate a security breach in response to baggage passing through said any of said screening devices;

in response to none of said screening devices indicating a security breach, routing said baggage to the appropriate departing secure baggage flight; and

operating one of said data input terminals to record the results of said checking step in storage within said computer system.

71. The process of claim 70 wherein said baggage is loaded onto a secure baggage flight that is capable of accepting baggage from multiple airlines.

72. The process of claim 70 wherein, responsive to the step of passing said baggage through said one or more devices resulting in detecting an indication of a security breach, routing said baggage through additional baggage security screening devices, said additional screening devices providing additional security checks.

73. The process of claim 70 wherein in response to one of said additional security checks resulting in one of said additional baggage security screening devices indicating a security breach, operating one of said data terminals to extract from said computer system identification information of the passenger associated with said baggage and using said identification information to locate said passenger for interview or for additional security steps.

74. The process of claim 73 wherein if said interview or additional security steps indicate there is no security breach, loading said baggage on its secure baggage flight and boarding said passenger on the appropriate secure passenger flight.

75. The process of claim 73 wherein if said interview or additional steps indicate that there is a security breach, taking special screening or law enforcements steps.

76. The process of claim 75 further including the step of operating one of said data terminal to indicate that said special screening or law enforcement steps were taken in respect of said passenger.

77. An airline ticketing process for airlines offering secure flights and non-secure flights, said process using an airline information system including multiple computers, one or more of said multiple computers located at a departure airport and one or more of said multiple computers located remotely from said departure airport, said information system further including multiple computer terminals for inputting data into any of a said multiple computers for (1) tracking and controlling a secure air travel departure process for passengers and baggage being transported on secure flights, said secure flights including secure passenger flights and secure baggage flights, and (2) tracking and controlling an air travel departure process for non-secure flights, the process including the steps of:

checking to determine whether said passenger has selected a secure flight,

in response to said checking determining that said passenger has selected a secure flight, allowing said passenger to select a secure flight ticketing process selected from the collection of processes consisting of (1) on-line ticket purchase, (2) airline ticketing process wherein said passenger purchases said ticket by calling the airline, (3) ticket counter process wherein said ticket is purchased by said passenger at an airline ticket counter, (4) travel agent process wherein said ticket is purchased from a travel agent, and (5) frequent flyer award process wherein said ticket is purchased by redeeming frequent flyer miles,

allowing said passenger to purchase a ticket by said selected ticketing process, and

in response to said passenger further choosing to purchase the ticket, operating one of said multiple computer terminals to reserve said ticket in said airline information.

78. The process of claim 77 including the further step of said passenger choosing flight selections from the collection of choices consisting of (1) in-flight options, (2) special requests, (3) baggage carrier, (4) baggage source location and destination location, and (5) travel options, during said ticketing process.

79. The process of claim 77 further including the step of, in response to the step of checking to determine resulting in an indication that said passenger has selected a non-secure flight, allowing said passenger to purchase a non-secure flight ticket by said passenger selecting a secure flight ticketing process by using a ticket purchasing process selected from the collection of processes consisting of (1) on-line ticket purchase, (2) airline ticketing process wherein said passenger purchases said ticket by calling the airline, (3) ticket counter process wherein said ticket is purchased by said passenger at an airline ticket counter, (4) travel agent process wherein said ticket is purchased from a travel agent, and (5) frequent flyer award process wherein said ticket is purchased by redeeming frequent flyer miles, and operating one of said multiple computer terminals to enter data into storage in at least one of said multiple computers to issue said non-secure flight ticket to said passenger.

80. An electronic data signal for use in an airline information system, such system including

multiple computers including computer storage,

one or more of said multiple computers located at an airport and one or more of said multiple computers located remotely from said airport,

said information system further including multiple computer terminals for inputting data into any of a said multiple computers for tracking and controlling a secure air travel process for passengers and baggage being transported on secure flights, said secure flights including secure passenger flights and secure baggage flights,

said signal (a) embodied in storage in one or more of said multiple computers, and (b) including data fields containing information signals representing information taken from the collection of information representing

(1)passenger name,(2)ticket reservation information,(3)ticket purchase information,(4)ticket issuance information,(5)airline name,(6)secure passenger flight number(s),(7)secure baggage flight number(s),(8)flight stop-overs,(9)flight tracking information,(10)passenger biometric or other identity information,(11)boarding pass information,(12)seat assignment information,(13)flight manifest information,(14)baggage tracking information,(15)in-flight option selection information,(16)baggage delivery tracking information,

wherein all or part of a replica of said electronic data signal is transmitted within said information system, accessed from storage, updated and returned to storage during tracking and controlling of said secure air travel process.

81. A process for tracking, routing and controlling passengers, baggage and flights in a secure air travel process from a departure airport to a destination airport for passengers and baggage being transported on secure flights,

said secure flights including secure passenger flights and secure baggage flights,

said process using an information system,

said information system including multiple computers,

one or more of said multiple computers located at an airport and one or more of said multiple computers located remotely from said airport,

said information system further including multiple computer data input and retrieval devices for inputting and retrieving data into and from any of a said multiple computers, said devices located at said departure airport or remote therefrom,

at least one of said data input and retrieval device being respectively located at at least one departure airport location selected from the collection of locations consisting of

(1)boarding gate locations,(2)curbside check-in locations,(3)ticket counter locations,(4)baggage loading locations,(5)baggage screening locations,(6)ticket reservation locations,(7)baggage counter locations,(8)law enforcement locations,(9)local passenger airline locations,(10)local baggage carrier airline locations,(11)passenger airline hub locations,(12)baggage airline hub locations,(13)ticket agent locations, and(14)passenger seat assignment,

said process including the steps of:

(a)a passenger deciding to use said secure air travel and choosing tobuy or reserve a ticket for said secure air travel,(b)using one of said data input and retrieved devices to connect tosaid information system for ticket reservation,(c)using said device of step (b) to (i) retrieve information from saidinformation system (ii) updating information of said passengerindicating (1) that secure air travel has been chosen and (2) thatticketing has been reserved; and

(3) baggage drop-off location hasbeen selected,(d)said passenger arriving to the airport on the day of travel, anddelivering said passenger'"'"'s baggage as indicated in said baggagedrop-off location,(e)providing said passenger with baggage tracking informationretrieved from said information system,(f)transporting said baggage through baggage screening locations,baggage routing locations and baggage loading areas onto saidsecure baggage flight,(g)tracking said baggage through at least one of said locations in step(f) and updating said baggage tracking information in saidinformation system, and(h)accessing said baggage tracking information in said information bysystems operators at a passenger airline hub location or a baggageairline hub location or said destination airport to aid in routing saidbaggage to said destination airport.

82. The process of claim 81 further including the steps of:

83. An airport terminal including (a) a passenger area for passengers transported on secure passenger flights and (b) a baggage area for baggage transported on secure baggage flights.

84. A method of operating an airline by offering secure passenger flights.

85. The method of claim 84 wherein the airline also offers secure baggage flights.

86. The method of claim 84 wherein said secure passenger flights include office services.

87. The method of claim 86 wherein said office services are offered free as an incentive for passengers to travel on said airline.

88. The method of operating an airline by providing secure passenger flights and also providing normal passenger flights.

89. The method of claim 88 wherein the airline provides passengers a method of electing whether to fly on normal flights or on secure flights.

90. A method of operating a baggage ground transport business by transporting baggage associated with airline passengers, said baggage transported to airlines that offer both secure passenger flights and secure baggage flights.

91. A method of operating a baggage ground transport business by transporting baggage associated with said airline passengers, said baggage transported to airlines that offer only secure baggage flights.

92. The method of claim 91 wherein the baggage is picked up from a passenger and delivered to (a) an airline terminal providing secure baggage flights or (b) an airline terminal providing normal flights.

93. A system of secure air travel comprising air terminal facilities providing for the transportation of passengers and baggage on secure flights.

94. The system of claim 93 that further includes air terminal facilities providing for the transportation of passengers and baggage on normal flights.

95. The system of claim 93 further including check-in facilities for checking in said baggage wherein said check-in facilities include at least one from the group consisting of (a) airport check-in counters, (b) baggage pick-up from a passenger'"'"'s home, and (c) baggage pick-up from an origin departure location separate from the airport check-in counters and a passenger'"'"'s home.

96. The system of claim 93 further including delivery facilities for delivering said transported baggage to at least one destination from the group consisting of (a) the destination airport, (b) the passenger'"'"'s home, (c) the passenger'"'"'s business destination, or (d) the passenger'"'"'s pleasure destination.

97. The system of claim 93 wherein the secure flights and the normal flights are provided by the same airline.

98. The system of claim 93 wherein the secure baggage flights are provided by an airline that does not provide secure passenger flights.

99. An airline that provides secure baggage flights.

100. An airline that provides secure passenger flights.

101. The airline of claim 100 further providing on-board document management sites on said secure passenger flights.

102. The airline of claim 100 providing on-board data processing facilities.

103. An airline that provides secure baggage flights and further provides secure passenger flights.

104. An airline that provides (1) secure baggage flights, (2) secure passenger flights, and (3) normal passenger flights.

105. An information system including multiple computers, one or more of said multiple computers located at an airport and one or more of said multiple computers located remotely from said airport, said information system further including multiple computer data input and retrieval devices for inputting and retrieving data into any of a said multiple computers for tracking, routing and controlling passengers, baggage and flights for passengers and baggage being transported on secure flights, said secure flights including secure passenger flights and secure baggage flights.

106. The information system of claim 105 wherein some of said data input and retrieval device are respectively located at selected locations at an airport, said locations from the collection of locations consisting of (1) boarding gate locations, (2) curbside check-in locations, (3) ticket counter locations, (4) baggage loading locations, (5) baggage screening locations, (6) ticket reservation locations, (7) baggage counter locations, (8) law enforcement locations, (9) local passenger airline locations, (10) local baggage carrier airline locations, (11) passenger airline hub locations, and (12) baggage carrier airline hub locations.

107. The information system of claim 105 wherein said computers are selected from the group of computers consisting of (1) personal computers, (2) thin clients, (3) servers, (4) workstations, (5) handheld computers, (6) scanning devices with microcontrollers.

108. The information system of claim 105 including further including display devices, textual entry mechanisms, network connections, camera/scanner devices, fingerprint scanners, and other biometric input devices connected to them.

109. The information system of claim 105 wherein at least some of said computers include local memory and mass storage devices.

110. The information of claim 105 wherein said computers include software taken from the collection of devices consisting of windows based software, menu based software, graphical user interfaces and web browser interfaces.

111. The information system of claim 105 wherein said computers are connected with each other using networks.

112. The information system of claim 111 wherein at least one of said computers is operated by a passenger airline and at least one of said computers is operated by a baggage carrier airline.

113. The information system of claim 112 wherein said at least one computer operated by a passenger airline and said at least one computer operated by a baggage carrier airline are networked on the same network.

114. The information system of claim 112 wherein said at least one computer operated by a passenger airline and said at least one computer operated by a baggage carrier airline are networked on different networks.

115. The information system of claim 111 wherein said networks include at least one of the networks selected from the group of networks consisting of (1) local area networks, (2) metro area networks, (3) wide area networks, (4) wireless LANs, (5) Wireless data networks, and (6) internetworks.

116. The information system of claim 112 wherein electronic data records about passengers are stored locally and centrally between in said local memory and said mass storage devices in said at least one computer operated by a passenger airline and in said at least one computer operated by a baggage carrier airline using automated data sharing formats.

117. The information system of claim 116 wherein, in response to a request by a passenger to change destination or flight, said at least one computer operated by a passenger airline updates said passenger'"'"'s electronic data record to change said destination to a new destination or to change said flight to a new flight.

118. The information system of claim 117 wherein, in response to said at least one computer operated by a passenger airline updating said electronic data record to change said destination or flight, said passenger airline updates said electronic data record to change said secure baggage flight to cause baggage associated with said passenger to be transported to said new destination or to arrive at a new time corresponding to the time of arrival of said new flight.

119. The information system of claim 117 wherein, in response to said at least one computer operated by a passenger airline updating said electronic data record to change said destination or flight, said baggage carrier airline updates said electronic data record to change said secure baggage flight to cause baggage associated with said passenger to be transported to said new destination or to arrive at a new time corresponding to the time of arrival of said new flight.

120. The Information system of claim 116 wherein said formats are selected from the group of data sharing formats consisting of EDI, XML, SGML, and other mark-up languages.

121. The method of operating an airline by providing secure baggage flights only.

122. The method of claim 121 wherein some of said secure baggage flights transport baggage associated with passengers on more than one passenger flight.