AMS: New Centralized Pre-Boarding Procedures for all US Flights.
Jun 25, 2017, 10:50 am
#31
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Join Date: Jun 2017
Posts: 205
I'm a American citizen and just flew through Amsterdam yesterday. Our flight was delayed getting into Amsterdam which caused us to be in a very short time schedule to catch my flight to the US and The screening was something I can't even put into words. I was asked the normal question I would get at passport control which is "why were you in Europe"? I answered that I was a professor teaching a class and he wanted to know what I thought. When I said I taught propaganda all hell broke loose. In hindsight I should've said I thought customer service... but the questions were aggressive and they lasted for 12 minutes and he asked me how I taught and why I taught and what sources are used and what was my opinion on current propaganda compared to past propaganda. When I became frustrated he gleefully informed me that I was losing my temper and I told him I wasn't losing my temper but I was very frustrated being as I had two minutes to get to my gate and he was asking me questions about my teaching philosophy that I didn't understand. He reported to me that this security was needed because "we have to be very careful about who enters the US."As a United States citizen and a professor at a university I was shocked and dismayed. I honestly thought I was going to be detained ( and I'm a white woman with a PHD and had students with me). Plus, these people don't wear official uniforms or is there any signage explains what this is....
Jun 25, 2017, 11:30 am
#32
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Brighton. UK
Programs: BA Gold / VS /IHG Diamond & Ambassador
Posts: 14,195
'to board our aircraft you need to answer these questions to our satisfaction. If you do not wish to answer them we will cancel your booking and you will need to fly with another airline'
The people asking the questions are employees / contractors of the airline not the US Government.
Jun 25, 2017, 1:18 pm
#33
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Join Date: Jun 2017
Posts: 205
To which the response could very well be
'to board our aircraft you need to answer these questions to our satisfaction. If you do not wish to answer them we will cancel your booking and you will need to fly with another airline'
The people asking the questions are employees / contractors of the airline not the US Government.
'to board our aircraft you need to answer these questions to our satisfaction. If you do not wish to answer them we will cancel your booking and you will need to fly with another airline'
The people asking the questions are employees / contractors of the airline not the US Government.
Jun 25, 2017, 3:42 pm
#34
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,095
While we can argue about the need for screening, the questions to not sound idiotic. They are open-ended or designed to put the passenger on the defensive, allowing a questioner to spot suspicious/nervous behavior. Of course the same questions could throw off an innocent person as well. But, the questions sound purposeful and not idiotic.
To which the response could very well be
'to board our aircraft you need to answer these questions to our satisfaction. If you do not wish to answer them we will cancel your booking and you will need to fly with another airline'
The people asking the questions are employees / contractors of the airline not the US Government.
'to board our aircraft you need to answer these questions to our satisfaction. If you do not wish to answer them we will cancel your booking and you will need to fly with another airline'
The people asking the questions are employees / contractors of the airline not the US Government.
Jun 25, 2017, 11:50 pm
#35
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: CPT,AMS
Posts: 4,412
Not quite, if you don't get to your gate because you have not cleared security, it's not IDB, it's a no-show, it's not any different to what will happen if you are stuck in a long queue for normal airport security etc.
Jun 26, 2017, 2:13 am
#36
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,095
When it's the airline's contractors that are actively preventing a passenger from boarding despite passenger having checked in -- luggage tags and boarding passes in hand -- having cleared the airport screening checkpoint; having been approved to leave by the host country authorities, and having prima facie evidence of admissibility at destination, then being prevented transport by the airline contractors is not the same thing as a no-show. It's constructively denied boarding by the airline. Agency matters.
