Originally Posted by
Loadmaster
I'm not following you here, I've worked at the ATL airport for almost 20 years and I'm not aware of the "carousels in the back" that you keep mentioning.
There is no "back carousel", all outbound bags go down belts from check-in to the terminal bagroom that is located under North and South terminals; conversley, all inbound bags are loaded onto the belts under North and South and arrive upstairs on the carousels in baggage claim.
As for connection bags, they are not handled as you suggest.
May I ask where you are getting your ATL handling info from?
I'm not saying this is exactly how ATL does it. I'm speaking in generic terms. Go to 2:53 In this video to see what I'm talking about. You'll see the bag carousel that bags get dropped onto from the bag handling system. You'll also she numerous bags around said carousel, likely waiting for a cart/container and pulled off simply due to no room on the carousel.
ATL maybe different slightly. However in general this is layout used. Bags come off the bag moving system and onto a carousel in back
Some may have bag storage facilities built inline, and the bag is put on a tray and placed in a slot, and pulled out only when time is ready for the flight. (See Dubai bag handling for example) Some may like AMS not have a bag carousel and instead a machine places each bag into a container.