Another crazy T1 customs arrival scene
 

Wow..who flew into the T1 US/International terminal tonite? I flew in from the US with Air Canada at around 8:30pm, and encountered a line-up going into the custom's hall. They lined off the escalator/stairs going down, and started a new lines going through the 2nd floor hallways....

Luckily, I had my nexus card, and was able to bypass the 2nd floor lines, and head down to the customs hall....Inside it was full to the max...
There was probably 1 border agent working for every 2-3 empty stalls.

If I have to guestimate, it'll be at least 2-3 hours for someone get through customs.
This is a disgrace to the GTAA...Most 3rd world countries have better customs process.

Something weird or the conspiracy theorist in me, I tried to take a picture of the 2nd floor overflow hallway with my blackberry..Just as i was clicking the camera, my blackberry shutdown and rebooted....lol...

YYZ I assume?

Sorry...should've mention it, YYZ T1...

2nd time in less than a month, lineups into customs were greater than 2 hours.

That's a usual scare for me as I get into YYZ. It baffles me why they can't (or don't want to?) improve the system.

And some of you want EK to fly into YYZ every day. Look at the chaos its three A380s cause at customs already! And if AC's PEK, PVG and HKG flights all arrive a little late it gets really crazy between 8p and 9p...

How is this the GTAAs fault? Do they decide of staffing levels for the CBSA? :confused:

CBSA should have all the inbound flights and the max capacities....so they could staff the counters accordingly....so I am not sure why this is happening.

Some form of industrial action?

Yes, SH if its not EK it could be other airlines flying in their 380, so lets not focus on EK and 380's, the blame should be on the GTAA for building a shoddy airport and that cannot accomodate long lines. Wait till the games start here in Toronto lets see how this airport and the transit system accomodate all the visitors. I thought ours was a world class airport. :confused:

What can a world class airport do without adequate staffing levels? From the first post it appears there were 2 to 3 empty stalls for every manned stall. So at the best you were processing at either 33% or 25% of what the facility should be able to handle at 100% staffing levels. This could be a staffing issue from CBSA as opposed to an airport design issue..

The design flaws in the arrival immig hall creates an overflow mess into the corridors etc. Yes agreed that staffing is another issue as well but not the only fault.

Commie,

As a Nexus card holder how did you go about bypassing the lines? Was there anyone there in an official capacity allowing you to go by or did you just have to "force" your way through?

Since there is a shortage of staff, I doubt if the OP was directed by a person, he probably had to push his way through or manouvre carefully so as to get to the Nexus area.

A breeze in the afternoon...
 

My flight from Atlanta landed around 1:30, I was through customs/baggage pickup/security and finally having a beer in the MLL in under 20 min! I gather this will not happen all of the time, however, I'll take it when I can!

I arrive about an hour later from DCA.
We then had to wait for a gate (20 minutes) and then another 20 minutes for an agent to open the door.

Once at the top of the escaltor, we were directed to the right into a long line of people holding to await permission to go downstairs.

They were yelling for connections so I was able to move to the front in about 20 minutes. Local YYZ people were not allowed to come forward.

They had police and other officials to "manage" the crowd.

I bought a full fare ticket DCA-YYZ-YVR (stop) and then on to ICN.

I am a *G and I won't be buying an tickets to transit YYZ T1 anytime soon even though it is not the fault of AC.

I too agree that about 1/3 booths were occupied.

Maybe cbsa was out of money? Now it's a new fiscal year so perhaps they can staff up a bit. No excuse for the mess of course just perhaps an explanation. If management does not provide the staffing then this is what happens. Write your MP if you want anything done (of course your MP is subject to change )

Still infinitely better than the customs/immigration design at FRA!

Since I'm a Nexus card holder and I haven't yet experienced backups such as this in YYZ I was hoping for a response from someone who actually has. I, too, am quite capable of surmising. I'm really more interested in hearing of the actual experience of others.

It may be... but I have never waited for an immigration agent in FRA for more than 15 mins. At YYZ, I have gone through the crazy line ups and waitied for over 1 hour twice.

I do believe this is a GTAA and CBSA issue. GTAA for not doing their homework on the arrivals and CBSA for not staffing the right amount of agents...

Then you haven't spent much time at FRA. I've waited over 2 hrs to exit schengen before.

Agree...will someone please report their NEXUS experience...
 

....with this mess??

Sorry if posting in the wrong place and probably off track.

I get in to YYZ from HKG at 18.05 and in transit to connect to the flight to DCA at 20.55. Do i need to go through immigration (i know i need a transit visa cos i am not a US citizen) and is there enough time to make the connection considering such long waits.

I can't speak to YYZ, but I'm a Nexus holder in YYC, and when I run into the same thing here (lines backed up to the second floor) I've just walked past everyone to the top of the stairs (where they actually have someone stationed), said 'Nexus' and they've let me through.

A colleague of mine(who flew with me), who has NEXUS, managed to go through without too much problem. He had to say he was 'Nexus' to 3 different security people doing Crowd control to enter the Immigration Hall. He told me Nexus counters were empty, so he had little trouble once he made it to the Immigration Hall.

Probably.... I have been lucky... I mostly transit through FRA...;)

I've been through crowds in the customs hall in T1, not nearly as bad as the OP describes. You can get through immigration easy enough, but for exiting the hall there's only 1 or 2 people checking cards and no priority line for Nexus card holders. So you can still wait in line a long time trying to get out. If you have checked baggage at YYZ add another 40 minutes to wait for the baggage to show up.

The arrivals hall was a mess when I got in at 9:30 last night. Huge lines everywhere, excess baggage piling up on the belts, so much so that the chutes were blocked and stalling.

Was there some kind of holiday last week that I missed?

Spring Break?

That'd explain it. Been out of school for longer than I care to admit so I don't track those dates at all.

Similar experience on March 16 – arriving from US on AC around 8:45 pm – over 700 people trapped on level 2 hallway for more than 2 hours – AC rep disappeared quickly saying simply “customs doesn’t have staff, wait here”. Peel police to “guard” but had no knowledge of situation. After release into customs waiting area, another 45 minutes to clear, less than 1/2 booths open, many staff appearing to just come onto shift (logging on, getting settled in chair). Nexus were not permitted to bypass until 1.5 hours passed. Having experienced unusually long lineups for customs and luggage at YYZ T1 in the past, I work hard to avoid int'l connect through YYZ.

imagine trying to squeeze through the line (because you have NEXUS) then later pulled back and beaten up by the angry mob because they (with a Canadian mentality) think you are trying to jump the queue?

Even though we don't need it, I always carry my Nexus card in my hand so people can see it (assuming they know what Nexus is). I find it also helps that I wear a leather pilot's jacket so people often assume I'm crew.

Ontario spring break was March 14 - 18, so don't think it was that.

Actually you do need to carry your NEXUS card whenever you intend to use the kiosk, as well as having your passport. As has been posted by several of us, agents have been making spot checks to ensure you have your card when using the kiosk. If you can't show your card you can lose your membership! BTW which airline flight crews wear leather pilot jackets?

No problem for you. You just proceed down the escalator and the hang a left down a separate channel for passengers connecting to the USA. You then pick up your checked bag(s) from a dedicated belt and proceed to a dedicated US customs officer after which you merge with others doing US customs preclearance. Your checked bags go back onto a belt and you continue through security. Just ensure you bags are tagged all the way through to DCA and you'll be fine.

If there is such a back-up, just let a security officer know you're headed to the US.

Aren't Canadians docile?

Nexus rocks!
 

It's pretty easy to by-pass the lines as a NEXUS card holder. You keep to the right by-passing the lines, and head straight to the NEXUS machines. Once you have collected your yellow card, head straight down the escalators at T1 to the baggage area. Check out the separate NEXUS thread if you want more details.

Thanks, feels better knowing that i do not need to deal with that mess.

not when there is a line involved :p

It's Perfectly fine if you hold an eu passport...