<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by duxfan:
aw c'mon everyone.... i know what the real problem is... they are having computer troubles! it seems the software upgrade on the connection computer isn't working right. you know which computer i mean. the one that makes sure that if you come in at the end of C, you depart from the end of F, and vice versa! or that if you come in on commuter at G, your connection is actually a CO flight departing from B! i think it's stored in an outbuilding disguised as a fire station in a remote corner of the airport... 
the software must be making the connections in the new terminal far too simple!
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Hey! I help program those gate-plotting computers! The logic is based on Murphy's Law: Ensure the highest number of connecting passengers must walk the greatest distance in the least amount of time from a delayed inbound flight to an on-time outbound flight!
All joking aside, it's mainly because 40-50 new bomb-sniffing and X-ray machines must be ordered and installed in order to comply with the recent FAA law that goes into effect in late January: ALL checked bags must be X-rayed.
The interim plan, however, is being tested in MSP and MEM and working quite well. Every piece of checked luggage has a bar code that is used at the initial check-in point to make sure the bags go to the correct plane. Now those bar codes will be scanned each time a piece of luggage is loaded onto a plane. It's instantly transmitted to the computer system indicating the bag is on the flight. If the passenger fails to board but we know the bag is on and in which compartment it was loaded on the aircraft, the bag can (relatively) easily be removed.
The new system will be much better, though, and of course requires new electrical wiring, new X-ray machines, etc. So I guess it's good in a way to delay the terminal so that it opens with the most effective security initiatives as possible.