Case Study: Philadelphia International Airport achieves legacy-system protection and improved access-control performance with Honeywell Pro-Watch

At Philadelphia International Airport reverse engineering, upgrades, and customizations improve performance and protect investment in legacy systems

Philadelphia International Airport faced the challenge of modernizing a sprawling, mission-critical access control environment without wholesale replacement of existing legacy hardware. The airport worked with Honeywell (via NexWatch’s Pro-Watch system and Surveillant Professional Services) to integrate an upgraded Pro-Watch headend with older devices, meet FAA- and airport-specific requirements, and create a centralized, airport-wide security monitoring capability.

Honeywell’s Surveillant team reverse-engineered competitor protocols, delivered custom integrations and applications (including Transpass ticketing and vehicle gate controllers), and migrated the system from a legacy UNIX setup to the Windows/SQL-based Pro-Watch platform. The deployment provided full-terminal reader coverage, centralized alarm/CCTV monitoring, data-sharing with outside agencies, and increased ROI by avoiding expensive rip-and-replace actions—saving the airport potentially millions of dollars while improving operational control and scalability.

Philadelphia International Airport

Shaun Burns

Director of Business Development