Some Turbulence Experienced At New Airport Terminal

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) -- The $1 billion new terminal at Sacramento International Airport has caused some headaches for passengers in its first days of operation.

Passengers' landings may have been smooth, but getting their luggage has not always been.

"So its been a couple minutes, but you're still wafting for your luggage?" CBS13's Steve Large asked Barbara Knopick of Phoenix.

"Yeah."

"But you don't know where it's gonna come?"

"No."

The problem is passengers are being forced to guess which baggage carousels will correspond to their flight.

At the top of the 5 o'clock hour on Tuesday, it was very busy at the airport. Nine flights had just arrived or were arriving shortly, but you look at the monitor, and the carousel column was completely blank.

An airport spokesperson blamed the luggage problem on the airlines' learning curve.

But that's only one of the problems. CBS13 has also learned that oversized bags have clogged some of the luggage trams, leading to temporary breakdowns. Also, one of the airport's two people-movers stopped working for about 12 hours Monday night when a part failed.

The company that makes the people-mover talked about its reliability before the grand opening last Thursday.

"They're very reliable, typically we run at over 99 percent," Brad Bonner, site manager at Bombardier, said at the opening.

Poorly placed signs are also receiving complaints.

"There's no signs at all for rental cars," said traveler Lou Hernandez of Milwaukee. "I thought it was that way because it says shuttles, but that is for other shuttles."

And then there is the "you are here" sign that a retired accountant caught as a mistake.

"I'm right here, if I look over here to my left, which says west, that's east," he said.

"You aren't here?" Large asked.

"No, I'm not."