CASE STUDY
Transforming baggage operations at Denver International Airport with Better Airport: From bottlenecks to balanced reclaims
Denver International Airport
77 mill. passengers (2023)
190 Destinations
Executive Summary
Faced with increasing international traffic and a constrained baggage reclaim area, Denver International Airport needed a smarter way to manage allocation across limited belt infrastructure. Their existing system provided only list-based views, leaving planners without visibility or control – resulting in congestion, inefficiency, and passenger dissatisfaction.
Denver partnered with Copenhagen Optimization to implement the Better Baggage module within Better Airport. Through data-driven modelling, automation, and flexible rules based on aircraft type and baggage volume, DEN gained real-time visibility and near-total automation of reclaim planning.
The result: a 30% reduction in overlapping allocations, balanced use of all belts, and a significant decrease in manual workload, creating a more resilient operation ready for future growth.
About the client: Denver International Airport (DEN)
Denver International Airport (DEN) is a major U.S. transportation hub and the largest airport in North America by total land area. DEN has the largest domestic network in the U.S. with nearly 200 nonstop destinations, in addition to nonstop flights to 35 international destinations. In 2024 alone, Denver served more than 82.3 million passengers, making it one of the busiest airports in the world. With ambitious plans for growth Denver is expanding its footprint and seeking smarter ways to manage increasing operational demands.
The Challenge: Growing capacity, limited baggage reclaim resources-and no clear view
Before partnering with Copenhagen Optimization, Denver International Airport faced mounting pressure in their international baggage reclaim area. The core issue centered on inefficient allocation of reclaim belts – a resource already constrained by physical limits.
The baggage reclaim hall for international arrivals includes just three belts, and yet flights were being manually assigned without reliable data on flight timing, passenger volume, or baggage load. Even more limiting: the system used for resource allocation offered no true visual interface. Instead, allocations were “visualized” as simple lists – rows of static text that gave staff little to no spatial context for decision-making. There was no way to clearly see which belts were overloaded or underutilized at a glance, which left planners with a fragmented understanding of operations.
This absence of real-time visibility made it difficult to anticipate or avoid overlapping allocations. Flights were often stacked on a single belt while others remained empty. The result was crowding, confusion, and a deteriorating passenger experience, particularly during peak periods.
Denver’s international arrivals operation peaks in the afternoon – often leading to an extended waiting times due to many passengers arriving in the immigration hall preceding the bag claim within a short space of time. These extended waits resulted in leaving bags unattended on belts for extended periods and forcing staff to remove them manually. This ad hoc process placed a significant operational strain on ground teams and decreased overall efficiency.
DEN staff were aware of the symptoms – overcrowded and unbalanced belt use, passenger complaints, and a crowded reclaim hall – but they lacked the tools to quantify the problem or identify patterns in their operations. The need for a solution that could introduce visibility, automation, and strategic planning became increasingly clear as traffic volumes rose.
The Solution: What happens when you rethink the rules – and the routine
To tackle these challenges, Denver International Airport engaged Copenhagen Optimization to implement a tailored solution built on the Better Baggage module within the Better Airport platform. The project was designed as a proof-of-concept focused on reclaim belt allocation, change management, and operational optimization.
The initiative kicked off in early 2024 with a detailed baselining phase. The Copenhagen Optimization team collaborated closely with DEN stakeholders to map the current state of operations using Better Airport. This included:
- Recreating existing allocation patterns within the software to assess inefficiencies.
- Modeling real flight and baggage data to visualize current bottlenecks.
- Identifying imbalances in belt usage and overlap in flight assignments.
The modeling revealed clear overuse of one belt (up to 80%) and underutilization of others. To address this, the team designed flexible rule sets that accounted for the real-world impact of aircraft type on baggage load. Better Baggage allowed allocations to reflect the difference between widebody aircraft (like the Airbus A380 and A350) and narrowbody aircraft (such as the Boeing 737). For example, while a narrowbody aircraft might only require half a belt’s capacity, a widebody flight—especially an A380—could occupy an entire belt due to significantly higher baggage volume.
This calibration enabled a more realistic and accurate reflection of capacity demands within the system. It also allowed the platform to automatically balance belt usage by distributing flights based on their baggage footprint, not just their scheduled arrival time. As a result, resource utilization could be more evenly spread and visualized in a way that was easy to interpret and act upon.
Most critically, Better Baggage introduced 95% automation into the belt assignment process, allowing planners to focus on exceptions rather than daily micromanagement. It also provided planners with visibility into future schedules, enabling them to plan days in advance instead of reacting in real time.
Throughout the proof-of-concept, change management played a key role. DEN staff were introduced to new operational behaviors, such as adapting to variable belt assignments and using system-generated allocations rather than relying on habit or guesswork. The project team supported this transition with training, documentation, and iterative stakeholder engagement.
From overloaded belts to operational balance: What changed in just one month
The outcomes from the one-month proof-of-concept were both immediate and measurable:
Balanced belt utilization: Belt usage was normalized to approximately 33% per belt during peak times, a major improvement from the previous 70–80% usage on a single belt.
- Reduction in overlaps: Conflicting flight allocations were reduced by 20–30%, leading to smoother transitions and reduced manual handling.
- Improved visibility and planning: Airport staff now had access to real-time and forward-looking data, enabling smarter operational planning and reduced reliance on reactive decisions.
- Operational integration: Better Airport data fed directly into DEN’s internal systems, powering display screens and guiding below-wing operations (e.g., baggage cart drivers) with accurate drop locations.
Together, these improvements translated into a better experience for passengers, smoother collaboration among airport teams, and a strong foundation for scaling operations as traffic continues to grow.
What's next: Expanding Better Airport across Denver Operations
Encouraged by the success of the reclaim project, Denver International Airport is actively exploring the deployment of additional modules from the Better Airport suite:
- Better Baggage (Domestic): Applying similar optimization principles to domestic baggage operations.
- Better Security: Optimizing staffing and throughput at security checkpoints, particularly in the departures area.
Pilot initiatives are already underway, and stakeholder engagement is ongoing to ensure that the integration of new modules is seamless and impactful.
Denver’s partnership with Copenhagen Optimization demonstrates how smart software combined with strategic change management can drive operational excellence—even in complex, high-volume environments like international baggage reclaim. As DEN continues to grow, Better Airport is positioned to help the airport scale with confidence, efficiency, and clarity.
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