Gigantic crowds at ORD
#16
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Zurich / Europe / New York
Programs: LH, BA, AA
Posts: 1,292
Useless to interrogate where people have gone to and back from, it is not like you can refuse entry of a US citizen or legal resident. Just check temp, give them a flyer and go. If the Asian countries can do this seamlessly, why is in this case such as disaster! Anyway, such large scale of travel restriction isnt effective to start with since therere already thousands are infected.
#17
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,103
Its not often that a government has the fortune of having trial-run a travel ban a couple years earlier. Youd think they could have worked out the kinks this time around.
(Not that anyone in charge in 2017, at the cabinet level, is still there. Institutional memory is pretty low at the SES level right now.)
(Not that anyone in charge in 2017, at the cabinet level, is still there. Institutional memory is pretty low at the SES level right now.)
I flew into to the US on the 2017 day of and around the implementation of the Muslim ban and even that wasnt as messed up as what has gone on at ORD and various other designated US airports with this 2020 European ban. The 2017 ban didnt have DHS putting huge number of American lives and health at additional risk; the 2020 ban has DHS putting huge number of American lives and health at additional risk.
An American married to a Dane who resides in Denmark has been asking me about skiing in the US this month because they cant go skiing anywhere great in the EU except maybe in Sweden where they have been enough as they see it. They can still fly to the US and get to Vail and Park City for skiing and will probably do it because the schools and universities are shut down in Denmark and they dont want to miss a good ski trip when they have nothing better to do. The Danish husband has no visa or green card for the US and only one of the children is a US dual-citizen.
Last edited by iluv2fly; Mar 22, 2020 at 10:09 am Reason: merge
#19
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,103
Colorado’s Governor has ordered all ski resorts in the state to close down. This is what happens when the ski resorts were reluctant to shutdown even as it’s been clear that ski resorts have been a major nexus for this virus spreading around the world.
#20
Original Member, Moderator: Hotel Deals and MilesBuzz
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 14,256
In this photo provided by Austin Boschen, people wait in line to go through the customs at DFW on Saturday, March 14, 2020. I'm shaking my head is disbelief. Looks like the perfect breeding ground for the virus.
#21
Join Date: May 2009
Location: South Park, CO
Programs: Tegridy Elite
Posts: 5,678
Insider is reporting crowds at ORD, DFW, and IAD:
https://www.insider.com/crowds-trave...vel-ban-2020-3
https://www.insider.com/crowds-trave...vel-ban-2020-3
#22
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 60
All I can offer is my one DP, but I arrived internationally to IAD yesterday (14 March) in late afternoon. Customs and immigration was like a ghost town, officer I spoke to said it had been pretty slow during his shift. I have GE but even the regular CBP queues were very light. Same with security - walked right through PreCheck and saw that regular security had almost no line. Not a ton of people in the concourses. Domestic flight had about 10 pax on a Devil's Chariot. Obviously I can't speak to the entire day's activity.
#23
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 595
I chuckle at the posts, such as the one above I assume the moderators will wipe, that bashes the US for it's response to COVID-19. Not once have I ever seen one of them say what they would have done differently. Keep 'em coming, they're good for a laugh.
#24
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: IAD/ARN
Programs: UA Plat/*G, Marriott LT Gold, Global Entry
Posts: 164
All I can offer is my one DP, but I arrived internationally to IAD yesterday (14 March) in late afternoon. Customs and immigration was like a ghost town, officer I spoke to said it had been pretty slow during his shift. I have GE but even the regular CBP queues were very light. Same with security - walked right through PreCheck and saw that regular security had almost no line. Not a ton of people in the concourses. Domestic flight had about 10 pax on a Devil's Chariot. Obviously I can't speak to the entire day's activity.
#25
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2001
Posts: 10,960
A lot of this is preparedness. Most Asian airports I have been to already have infrared imaging in place - they have been in place for years due to the original SARS.
I came back through SFO the end of January. Other than signs on the TV saying "If you were in WuHan...", they did not seem to be prepared at all. The DHS lady who collected my Global Entry form got kind of defensive when I asked her what they are doing about it.
The scary thing is that some of them can have it already or catch it while they wait. Then they have domestic flights home - the TSA agent who checks their documents, virus gets on other people's documents, passengers / FAs on the flights...
In a few days, this won't be a problem.
I came back through SFO the end of January. Other than signs on the TV saying "If you were in WuHan...", they did not seem to be prepared at all. The DHS lady who collected my Global Entry form got kind of defensive when I asked her what they are doing about it.
The scary thing is that some of them can have it already or catch it while they wait. Then they have domestic flights home - the TSA agent who checks their documents, virus gets on other people's documents, passengers / FAs on the flights...
In a few days, this won't be a problem.
#26
Join Date: Apr 2013
Programs: SPG, AA, United
Posts: 1,782
What should be happening is that arriving flights should each be given a disembarkation slot based on actual arrival time. Then, only one international flight should be allowed to disembark at a time. Once 80-90 percent of that flights passengers clear customs, let the next flight deplane.
There wont be much more delay, if any, via that process, and youll dramatically reduce crowding in the terminal. Id much rather sit in a HEPA-filtered aircraft than a jam-packed arrivals hall right now.
I dont think this is rocket science.
There wont be much more delay, if any, via that process, and youll dramatically reduce crowding in the terminal. Id much rather sit in a HEPA-filtered aircraft than a jam-packed arrivals hall right now.
I dont think this is rocket science.
The reason there are elected officials in these capacities is so that the citizens won't have to come up with the solutions and can concentrate on their own lives. If I had to do the job, I know that it wouldn't have had this type of mess associated with it. There's no way I could handle everything I currently do if I made these type of mistakes.
Last edited by iluv2fly; Mar 22, 2020 at 10:11 am Reason: merge