Originally Posted by
MSPeconomist
Arriving international flights can't allow passengers to deplane and leave a holding pen without being processed through immigration and customs (unless the flight did pre clearance at the origin). So I'm surprised that passengers would be told that they could deplane.
Yet we were told we could deplane in an announcement by the captain since CLT had open immigration and customs services. FA's were going through the aisles asking who wanted to get off. Again, eventually no one got off the aircraft. Whether that was the captain's choice or someone on the ground in CLT, I do not know. Originally, the captain announced we might divert into Knoxville but were told they did not have functioing customs/immigration.