American Travelers deserve better at their own airports
Last Friday I returned from a three-week long overseas trip. This has been the third of such trips for me in a year. These days, air travels are no fun for any passenger. The traveler is forced to pay for all security checks, arrive at the airport at least two to three hours ahead of the departure time and go through multiple checkpoints. And then, most flights are late in departing from the gate. In these days of job insecurity and high unemployment, security jobs at the airports seem to be exceptions. The companies doing business in this area, whether these are selling machines or providing security guards, are all doing great. I am told that many such security firms are actually managed by former Israeli agents. After all, they had the least number of plane hijacking! They ought to know something better that others don’t.
As usual, the security check-ups in the JFK are the worst. The security guys won’t allow anyone to pass through the security check points with any liquid -- even children’s drinks, not even body lotions and face creams. I saw a female passenger disapprovingly handing over her newly purchased unused expensive lotion and perfume to the security lady. She apparently forgot about those stupid rules! I am sure that someone within the security system is making a good business out of those snatched items. The passengers are also required to take their shoes off before passing through the checkpoints. Blame all such troubles on to Richard Colvin Reid – the failed shoe-bomber!
The intercontinental flight over the Atlantic was a long one – almost 12 hours. But thanks to the Qatar Airways’ Boeing flight with plenty of leg-space and great personal entertainment center, it was not too difficult to relax and enjoy the flight. The in-flight service from the crew, mostly from South-east Asia, was also great. With few passengers flying, many passengers in the economy class were able to lie down and sleep.
During my return flight from Doha, I had to face again the same type of security checks – a more thorough version for everyone flying to the USA. That is, those passengers flying to other places were not required to face multiple checks as we did. Well, looks like every traveler to and from American airports will have to endure the painful process for a long time, unless common sense dictates to stop this madness! As I hinted in the beginning, no one is winning from this madness except those involved in the security business. Billions of dollars are lost every year as a result of this extra security checks at the airports around the globe.
While American immigration officers are probably the most professional and efficient of their kind in the world, taking the least amount of time to process documents of arriving passengers (and causing the least amount of waiting time in front of the counters), the other services inside the arrival terminal -- from bag unloading from the carousels, which can take in excess of half an hour, to finding a cart to load baggage -- are probably worst in the world. One has to pay five dollars to get a wheel cart to load one’s bags. In my frequent flights to many countries around the world, I am simply unaware of any foreign airport charging its arriving passengers to pay for such carts, which are offered free to help them move their baggage easily. But here in the USA such a free service is simply absent, causing much irritation, annoyance and problem to many foreign travelers who may not have the right currency upon their arrival.
When a third world country like Bangladesh can afford to provide such cart services free to all its passengers, it is high time that the USA, the richest country in the world, modifies its policy to make its airports more friendlier to its travelers.
As usual, the security check-ups in the JFK are the worst. The security guys won’t allow anyone to pass through the security check points with any liquid -- even children’s drinks, not even body lotions and face creams. I saw a female passenger disapprovingly handing over her newly purchased unused expensive lotion and perfume to the security lady. She apparently forgot about those stupid rules! I am sure that someone within the security system is making a good business out of those snatched items. The passengers are also required to take their shoes off before passing through the checkpoints. Blame all such troubles on to Richard Colvin Reid – the failed shoe-bomber!
The intercontinental flight over the Atlantic was a long one – almost 12 hours. But thanks to the Qatar Airways’ Boeing flight with plenty of leg-space and great personal entertainment center, it was not too difficult to relax and enjoy the flight. The in-flight service from the crew, mostly from South-east Asia, was also great. With few passengers flying, many passengers in the economy class were able to lie down and sleep.
During my return flight from Doha, I had to face again the same type of security checks – a more thorough version for everyone flying to the USA. That is, those passengers flying to other places were not required to face multiple checks as we did. Well, looks like every traveler to and from American airports will have to endure the painful process for a long time, unless common sense dictates to stop this madness! As I hinted in the beginning, no one is winning from this madness except those involved in the security business. Billions of dollars are lost every year as a result of this extra security checks at the airports around the globe.
While American immigration officers are probably the most professional and efficient of their kind in the world, taking the least amount of time to process documents of arriving passengers (and causing the least amount of waiting time in front of the counters), the other services inside the arrival terminal -- from bag unloading from the carousels, which can take in excess of half an hour, to finding a cart to load baggage -- are probably worst in the world. One has to pay five dollars to get a wheel cart to load one’s bags. In my frequent flights to many countries around the world, I am simply unaware of any foreign airport charging its arriving passengers to pay for such carts, which are offered free to help them move their baggage easily. But here in the USA such a free service is simply absent, causing much irritation, annoyance and problem to many foreign travelers who may not have the right currency upon their arrival.
When a third world country like Bangladesh can afford to provide such cart services free to all its passengers, it is high time that the USA, the richest country in the world, modifies its policy to make its airports more friendlier to its travelers.
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