Pianoman109876

I do not travel often internationally so this might just be my own lack of awareness, so apologies.

I flew into CVG from Paris with a few bottles of wine, well under the limit set for bringing wine in. Using Global Entry, I cleared and gave my slip to the CBP agent. He asked about the wine, I gave him a clear and direct answer. He said I was free to go and did NOT need to stop by agriculture for inspection.

Upon preparing to exit the CBP area and enter the area for TSA re-screening, a Redcoat stopped me. She asked if I was carrying alcohol. I informed her I had two bottles of wine in my suitcase. She blocked my exit, forcefully pointed to a side door and told me I needed to be screened by the agricultural agent. I stated I was confused since customs had cleared me. She told me if I did not comply she would call security.

I went over to the customs agent manning the agricultural screening area. He asked why I was there. I told him the whole story. He told me he was not going to screen me; that I was fine, and to exit. I tried to leave and the same redcoat stopped me. She accused me of trying to bypass security and it was only after the uniformed customs agent working the agricultural screening area flatly told her he was not going to search my bag since CBP had already cleared me that she let me go.

I was shocked and a bit shaken up. For what it�s worth, I did not see her direct any other passengers towards the agricultural screening.

I�m choosing to overlook any possible racial bias here (which we know unfortunately can happen with CBP, but this was a Delta redcoat).

Was this appropriate for her to do so? I�m sure some folks might say that we always have to comply with airline staff but it just seemed so out of the blue. But since I rarely fly international and have NEVER flown into CVG from international maybe this is normal?

I don�t know???

DLHubber

This is a bizarre story. Airline employees have no business being in the customs area in the first place, much less ordering people around.

Pianoman109876

There were a LOT of redcoats in the customs area. CVG is set up really weird (for those who haven't gone through it before).

You go thru passport control/Global entry FIRST, then you collect your checked baggage. Then EVERYONE (even domestic arriving passengers) need to re-deposit their checked luggage to be sent to domestic baggage claim AND go through TSA screening (since after going through customs you get dumped into the sterile area).

The red coats were all hanging around the international baggage claim belt after passport control but before TSA screening (this is also where the agricultural inspection takes place).

CarmenOM

Actually, at least at MSP Terminal 1, there are always airline employees in the CBP areas. They lock and unlock the doors from the jetways into the CBP area, direct and manage passenger flow through the correct lines for processing by the CBP agents, and help the passengers in the baggage claim area. However, they do not have anything to do with passengers exiting from CBP.

At MSP Terminal 1 all the international flights are SkyTeam, so the airline employees in CBP are all Delta staff. There are also MSP travelers assistance volunteers, of which I am one, helping in the CBP areas in very strictly defined ways, especially in managing the passenger flow through passport control. Those volunteers have received extra training and additional security badge clearance than other airport volunteers.

physicsdude

I've seen airline employees at YYZ terminal 3 baggage claim belt only because YYZ T3 is an absolute mess for transfers and they're trying their best to help passengers' bags make it on to their flights. However, your case is a bit of an abuse of position. CBP officers are the only ones who should be directing people for inspection/security/whatever, not DL redcoats.

I've seen clear racial bias by DL employees. I posted a few instances within the past few months about how DL FAs abused an elderly lady and her daughter on DL159 or how people at the DL check-in desk tried to prevent certain people of a certain race from boarding their flight to AMS. The only thing that can be done in the future with these folks is to avoid them, deal with a different DL employee while keeping your cool, and then report them if it was a severe case of clear bias.

cubeman

Only thing that I could think is this was an undercover agent that doesn't seem to be in sync with the rest of customs.

lindros2

Did you get her credentials?
Delta will tell you to fill out a feedback form on Delta.com!
(or, if you'd prefer, you can call in, and experience racial bias, like I did last night after Delta's systems blew up twice and issued me two tickets!)

findark

No, not appropriate. However, airport employees going on power trips trying to enforce rules outside of their purview isn't terribly uncommon either.

shoodawg

The other option is move on as long as it�s a one off. So many other things to focus on?

guv1976

Regardless of whether the OP reports this to Delta, I think that the OP should report this to CBP. It sounds like the DL employee was interfering with the smooth and efficient operation of CBP by improperly meddling and confronting the passenger, wasting the time of the Federal employee charged with performing the agricultural inspections. CBP might want to ensure that DL employees are reminded of their limited functions in the Customs Hall.

Pianoman109876

Yes, good point. It was clear the CBP officer working the agricultural inspection point was super annoyed that she was making work for him� he was like; �it�s not her call��

javabytes

It's not her call, she's well out of her lane. But employees on a power trip will do irrational things. Your instincts are right, do what you need to do with CBP, and ignore the redcoat.

HDQDD

Yeah, when pax have lost bags or need to recheck their bags, they should just let them fend for themselves. /sarcasm

Agents have ways been in the customs area and for good reason. They have to be there for CS/baggage issues, maintenance issues (I,e, with the baggage system), connection help (I.e. a missed connection or prioritizing lines at busy times), handling deportations, etc. Agents allowed access to the �customs area�, officially the FIS have to go through additional screening (more so than the average airline employee). They�re only allowed inside if they have business in there. Most airports use a small customs seal somewhere on the badge as the denotation for if an badge holder has access to the FIS. And of course they can�t access the doors to the FIS areas if their badge isn�t so enabled. Violating any of the customs rules can get one in some serious doodie.

source: I used to manage a customs areas at IAD in a past life, also had customs access at ORD when I worked at UA�s HQ nearby (for some capital projects I was working on).

ttuna3

I saw this and pinged a friend who's retired senior CBP.
His guess was that the DL agent has already been reported by the CBP people to their supervisors. It probably won't leave the airport, but DL management at CVG will definitely have heard from the local CBP about this. Whether it was kept at the shift level or gets escalated will probably depend on how annoyed the CBP supervisor is and if this kind of thing has happened before. If it's happened more than a couple of times over a month or so (with any Delta agent) then his opinion was that it's going to get up to the senior airport level managers to be dealt with at that level. That will likely not be pleasant for all of the DL people at CVG if the higher levels get involved.

OP definitely should still report this to Delta since as noted by almost everybody else that this is very inappropriate behavior by a Delta agent, especially a Red Coat.

Loadmaster

So FWIW: Airline agents are indeed permitted within the CBP/Immigration/FIS area if they have a Zone 2 CBP seal (Typically a black CBP seal on their badge). This is determined by the Airline in conjunction with CBP, extra steps are taken with an elevated background check & additional scrutiny by CBP to grant this access - CBP usually limits the amount of "Black Seals" that any Airline or ground handler may have & they don't take it lightly.

While many airports and CBP zones vary, for the most part, CBP Zone 1 seals (Red) are granted to anyone working within the footprint of the aircraft and Zone 2 seals (black) are given to those with special need to access the actual screening areas, Jet bridge, FIS, etc.(every airport varies depending upon how the Port Director wants to control access).

At the end of the day, ​​​​​​​It sounds like you just ran into an overly zealous employee who didn't know regs. I'd chalk it up to a lack of training, or maybe this person just wanted to be an authoritarian type ... dunno.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​