jackonferry

I guess that most, if not all, of the people getting off this flight are exiting the airport. There are very, very few connecting flights at PIT because it is no longer a hub.

phoebepontiac

I don't even see how this could be construed as costing taxpayers money. Did they have to call in somebody to deal with it who wasn't already on the clock?

Majuki

Something tells me if DL ever cuts this flight it would cease to be a problem. It would leave PIT without any international flights except AC from YYZ (precleared, so you land airside) and the USA3000 Airlines seasonal flights to CUN and PUJ. With only four arrivals per week, it's a max of 168 passengers per day. If the USA3000 flights were also cut, then I imagine the facility would be closed completely and a redesign wouldn't be necessary.

Nobody would be connecting at PIT since the only other DL flights are to hubs except the PIT-BOS flight. I doubt they sell you a ticket from CDG with a connection in PIT.

Fisher1949

^

Just made them do something other than smoke near the entrance and make calls on their cell phones. They get paid either way.

jkhuggins

On the other hand, such a design is completely consistent with the way that airports work in Europe. When I fly DTW-AMS-INN, I don't have to deal with Dutch immigration just to make my connecting flight. I and my bags have been screened at DTW, I don't have access to my checked bags in AMS, and I'm not allowed to leave the sterile side of the airport. I don't have to wonder about whether or not Dutch customs will have problems with anything in my possession.

It's a combination of a bad architectural plan combined with a bad system for handling passengers arriving in the US, regardless of their final destination. Fixing either problem would go a long way towards eliminating situations like these.

trvlr64

Yes PIT is asinine. I flew DL CDG to PIT last October and experienced that TSA mess and then I flew US FRA to CLT after Xmas and found how that's a joke too.

After clearing customs in CLT and you're connecting you still have to exit and come back through TSA screening via any of the main entry points.

If we just got off an international flight and we're connecting to a domestic why do we have to exit??

Someone needs to do some drastic redesign of all of our airports for connections.

chollie

The reason given is that between immigration and customs, you pass through baggage claim (non-sterile area) and have access to your baggage. You could remove 'contraband' from your checked luggage (like an LGA >3.4 oz) and carry it to the sterile area with you and put every one at risk.

It is ridiculous. The excuse is that it would be costly to remedy. Don't know about you, but seems like there's always construction going on somewhere.

The real PIA is when you are making a domestic connection at someplace like LAX. Depending on your connections, you may have to go through the scope 'n grope twice, once at your originating airport and again at your connecting airport.

ND Sol

Because you have had access to your checked bags during your immigration and customs process. As such, you could have pocketed an item that is permitted in your checked bag, but not in your carry-on.

Pesky Monkey

There are literally Billions of dollars to waste on the TSA, but not millions to make some common sense renovations.

ArizonaGuy

Answers above explain about the access to your bags. This is basically how every airport in the US works. Or at least I believe that's how all 460-some-odd commercial US airports now work, not that all have international arrivals. But I digress...

At one point there were some exceptions. PHX was one of them. Exiting Terminal 4 customs used to drop you back airside despite the fact you may have taken contraband from your checked luggage (besides the asinine things like liquids, you could have a firearm or other weapon now).

RoadVeteran

The customs facility in CLE is in Concourse A, towards the very end. I dont know what door or exits on the other side of the facilty there are. No way I could see from my vantage point of exiting the customs facility without going into the sterile area, again unless there is something on the other side.

There are 4 security checkpoints in CLE, one at concourse C, another midfield between C and A, right near B and another smaller one at the entrance to A, and then there is the one in the customs facility.

One time about 2years ago I happened to walk down terminal A just as the CO flight from London was arriving, as a couple of passengers walked out and the door opened I was able to glimpse inside and noticed the WTMD and 5 of the clerks.

I believe its not used much any more after Continental pulled the London nonstop. Any flights from Canada of course are precleared, so unless CO has anthing arriving from Mexico or there is the odd international charter it probably doesnt see much action with the tsa clerks.

AmyJo

I know parts of EU can be different but I thought Austria was part of
the Schengen Area. Have you made this trip recently?

When I fly to AMS from the US*, we have to go through Schengen passport
control and then go through the WTMD (and carry on baggage is x-rayed).
There are comments in the on flight shopping guide that unless you are
landing at your final destination that you will be required to surrender
articles bought during the flight that are not allowed through the security
check point - container of more than 100ml of fluids, etc.

*flying to another location in the Schengen zone

GUWonder

The above needs a substantial re-write in order to approach accuracy, as it is chock full of errors and misleading items as it stands now.

Any revision would need to consider the following facts:

1. DTW-AMS-INN involves dealing with Dutch immigration enforcement for most passengers.

2. Passengers checked in on such an itinerary can go landside at AMS, if they wish, without going through a departure security check merely to leave the airport at AMS when not continuing onward.

3. Dealing with Dutch customs enforcement for airside transits of all sorts at AMS does happen for some transiting AMS to another country, but it doesn't get observed by most as: (a) it is not visibly apparent to most passengers and (b) as passenger-facing encounters with Dutch customs enforcement is not common for passengers at AMS.

polonius

Well, when it happened to me it most definitely cost the taxpayers. First, I was going to be that last person through the checkpoint - this was at about 23:00. When I arrived, there were no less than 5 smurfs waiting. Had I walked through, their shift would have ended about 5 minutes later. Instead, they all had to stick around for 3 more hours.

Then of course they first brought in some junior officials. These guys called the police. The police called more and more senior officers to the scene. The TSA started bringing in all kinds of increasingly senior people. At one point, there must have been 18 people on site, and a few more that kept poking their heads in and waving other guys over for whispered conversations. Three cops stood over me the whole time. At one point I started walking towards the checkpoint and they rushed to intercept me. I just looked at them and said, "wait a minute -- are you trying to prevent me from approaching the checkpoint?" They said something that indicated, yes, they were, so I said, "I thought you guys were called here because I WOULDN'T approach the checkpoint, but now you are trying to make sure I do not? Can't you make up your minds?" They looked at me stupidly and said, "that was before this incident." Which incident? Oh yeah, the you-wouldn't-approach-the checkpoint incident.

Anyway, at one point one of the senior TSA guys tried exactly that kind of reasoning on me -- "you are inconveniencing a lot of people" and motioned to all the various agents and officers standing around. I asked for a show of hands, "how many of you are collecting overtime right now?" All but four senior guys put up their hands (the senior TSA guy declared "I get a fixed salary for this!"). Gesturing to the smurfs with their hands in the air, I said, "you see, I'm not causing a problem, I'm stimulating the economy"

NoClu

We need more of this. ^^