There are only a couple of remaining locations (ATL being one, and formerly RDU in the old days) where the layout of the airport is such that the international arrivals terminal does not have a direct "landside dump" after FIS*. Typically, in these cases, the FIS area is in a remote/midfield terminal or underneath the main concourse, far from the domestic arrivals area.

As a result, ALL interational arriving travelers, connecting and O/D, must clear TSA security and proceed through the secure, airside (departure) concourse of the terminal in order to reach landside and the street. In these cases, checked luggage (and/or anything with non-compliant carry-on items such as liquids greater than 100mL) must be dropped off on a belt after FIS to be delivered to domestic baggage claim.

It is a nuisance for O/D pax, and as a result, it was designed only for locations that are/were hubs, and thus where a large percentage of international arriving pax were CONNECTING, not O/D. RDU and ATL are examples.


Question: How have most airports solved this problem in more recent renovations?
Answer: By putting the FIS facility in the main terminal building, right next to the domestic arrivals and exit to the street. The tradeoff is that international arriving pax usually must walk a LONG distance through sterile corridors, or even board a sterile light-rail system, in order to reach the FIS area. MIA is a good example of this phenomenon.


*FIS = Federal Inspection Services (including passport control, customs, and agriculture inspections)