Worst designed checkpoints
 

My vote goes to ATL "T" Terminal. 3 x-ray machines, 2 of which are always open and 2 lines with 2 BP checkers...but, tons of employees cutting the line, the line can get so long that it has to cross a main circulation aisle. But the worst part is that there is very little table space before the machines, and at least for one of them, the tables don't run all the way up to the machines, so you have to carry your stuff from table to machine...and if you have a few bags/bins, it holds things up.

Sounds like Heathrow, pick a terminal.

MCI

Just not set up for security in this day and age.

Not bad at the Frontier gates in C. Usually no more than two flights at a time from its gate cluster. And being at the checkpoint is pretty much equal to being at the gate counter.

I could see a problem at a set of gates where all are near boarding.

DCA, Terminal A.

DEN
Don't understand why with all the space they have the serpentine course ends at the ID checkers. Once past the ID farce, you're then dumped into the free for all line up to the Xray/WMD. On a couple of occasions I've had the ID checker hold me up until the flock of sheeple behind him/her clears a bit. Meanwhile the other ID checkers continue to let sheeple through, so the Xray coral never really opens up.

Followed by Pier C at BWI.

My vote: any checkpoint with a TSA or TSA-sanctioned presence.

I vote RDU Terminal A - wait in a long curvey line, just to get your BP checked, and then GO UP AN ESCALATOR, to get in another long curvey line, to get your BP checked again.

Then, there are 4 or 5 "lines" but they are vertically stacked (ie they are one behind the next), and the walkway is no more than 1-2 people wide, so you cant get to the back one.

And oh ya, no elite lines at all.

Any terminal that you have to clear security to leave the airport on arrival (ATL, for example).

I'm generally anti-death penalty, but sometimes crimes of design rise to such serious levels that you have no other reasonable choice of punishment.

My vote goes to SAT. One security checkpoint for the whole airport. Every time I'm there, the line extends to the other end of the building. This has to be one of the worst bottlenecks in US airports. But, I do give their TSA staff credit, because they do try and get you through quickly. Especially when in uniform.

Yup; and it's so detrimental to the carnival of idiocy there at MCI when flight crew enters the gate area from the "back" door by the check-in counters, bypassing security completely. :rolleyes: (This is done in full view of those of us from the not chosen classes who are stuck funding and participating as perps in the pageant of the morons that takes place at the check-point.)

Rarely more than a couple of minutes wait at CO or NW. And if there's a line at one of those airlines set of gates, chances are there's not at the other, and you can walk through from one gate set to the other.

Ideal.

Are you serious?? You have to be screened to leave??

Presume the poster is talking about ATL international arrivals. The only way to exit is in to Terminal E, which is a fully secured area.

I'm sort of there with you, but it is far and away better than in the past -- at least now the UA gates have something to drink, a few snacks, and most importantly, a restroom past security.

You can't beat the convenience from gate to curb.

DEN is crazy. A modern airport with Neanderthal security. Even the premium line is stupid -- let's have you stand in the puffer, then take your shoes off. Um, what threat exactly are we screening for?

IAD is another goofy airport. Seems like that line takes forever.

I'll agree with LHR -- and that was before they really got stupid.

I'll add DFW to the list -- I have no idea why TSA doesn't have a separate checkpoint for military in uniform. It p*sses me off every time I see a guy going to Iraq have to remove his boots and get patted down. As far as I'm concerned, if you're in uniform, under orders for a charter to a war zone, with proper ID, you walk on through the checkpoint with a smile and best wishes.

CLT has had its moments for me =-- particularly when you have successive ID checks 15 feet apart, plus a guy at the WTMD checking your BP again.

Yep. Apparently some other airports in the US are like this too (require TSA screening to leave the terminal when arriving internationally). I've heard that this is true for PIT, but I've never arrived there internationally w/o connecting. I've had the good fortune never to have flown to ATL (or even connect there). Guess what's the biggest airline I haven't flown? :)

I thought you had the right to refuse a TSA screening before it begins (at the expense of not being allowed to fly,) and that said right is part of the legal basis for permitting warrantless TSA searches. Any lawyers (or wanna-bes) have any input on this?

A few years ago, ARN (Stockholm) had screening for incoming internationals. Lost a corkscrew from a picnic set that had been a gift (cleared BWI and random inspection at KEF).

These days, no incoming screening, but the odd timings of some of the check-ins can cause a really odd pile-up in Terminal 5. No zig-zag for two of them, very small one for the third, causing people to be lining up to either block the way into SkyCity or blocking check-in desks. On the other hand, the express lane seems to be working and usually clear.

It's not just DFW, that's at BWI, too. Very sad.
DFW had its own issues but my last trip there was in October 2001 so I'm loathe to bash it now with no current info.

One of the checkpoints in T5 at LAX is pretty rough as the line for security is usually all the way across the walkway to the parking garage and the line completely obstructs everybody else trying to move within the terminal

Without a doubt the airport from hell: SVO (Sheremetyevo in Moscow). This airport is so wrong on every level:

• Exit curbside
• Enter sheep-pen like holding area that funnels to a single entrance
• Push and shove (no lines, remember "festival seating" at concerts?) to single gate
• Through door to smaller area with luggage inspection tables scattered about
• Finally, to a DL counter agent
• Disney-like serpentine of fences to Customs
• Enter Customs, plexi doors shut in front of you and behind you
• Trapped as Customs agent scrutinizes your papers
• Door opens, I'm free! Run up the stairs
• Enter walkway on the rim of the circular terminal building
• Walk 3/4 (yes, 3/4!) of the way around the rim
• Finally, walk down jetway
• Kiss floor of A/C in gratitude

Of course, that's Russia. US of A...I dread MCO every time.

All the best, James

I second the vote for DEN.... for a "new" airport it's pretty bad.

Also ATL and the criss crossing lines and then MCO (B side especially) and their ridiculous lines.

Flying out of MCI today so will see how that goes but like a previous poster mentioned, I actually like the curb to gate layout of this airport.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned EWR B-3 checkpoint for the NW and DL area. It's narrow and you're dealing with EWR TSO's.

I agree, the absolute dumbest are Atlanta, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and the few others that require screening for inbound international passengers who are not connecting. It's an unthinkable waste of time and money. I can't believe that this is still going on.

As mentioned elsewhere on this board, the multiple ID checking airports are the second worst. It's wasteful, annoying, and--of course--there's no sensible reason for it.

Within the USA, BWI concourses C and D, Los Angeles Terminal 1, and Newark Terminal C seem to be the worst. The lines are ridiculous, and there just isn't any sace. It's always intimidating to pass by Terminal 1 at LAX and see the line going outside.

Outside the USA, the prize goes to Frankfurt for USA/Canada/Israel departures. How do you say "over the top" in German? It's an insane amount of security. And--how could we forget?--Heathrow. But everyone knows it's awful there.

I haven't been to Denver or Las Vegas, which seem to have some notoriety for slow security. And I've heard that the security in Moscow's domestic airports is actually far more intrusive and complicated than at Sheremetyevo. I haven't had the pleasure.

My experiences at SVO2 have been like this:

• Exit curbside
• X-ray of everything as you enter the terminal
• Stand in line for customs
• Exit customs and stand in next security line
• All checked bags (sometimes all bags) X-rayed
• Exit X-ray
• All checked bags hand searched
• Enter check-in line
• Check in for flight and check bags
• Enter Disneyland-like passport control line
• Present papers
• Exit passport control
• Welcome to the airside portion of the terminal!
• Walk 3/4 the way around the terminal to the gate noting that there is nowhere at all to sit
• Enter security line at gate
• Clear magnetometer & X-ray
• Enter gate holding pen
• At boarding time, walk down jetway!

[QUOTE=Mats;9194312]I agree, the absolute dumbest are Atlanta, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and the few others that require screening for inbound international passengers who are not connecting. It's an unthinkable waste of time and money. I can't believe that this is still going on.

QUOTE]

Add MCO to this completely ludicrous "screen to exit" approach. Why can't one of either the airlines or TSA get it together, and use a bus to transfer all international arrivals post customs and immigration to the landside of the terminal? Wait a minute, sorry. :( Airlines or TSA "get it together"? Lost my head. :rolleyes:

That is never my experience and I go through there every week. I show ID/BP once. At the most I just have to flash the fact that I have a BP at the WTMD. CLT isn't an ideal layout, but i've seen much worse.

At IAH in the checkpoint line for termanal A-south concourse, my ID is often checked three times in a span of 20 feet. Completely absurd.

It's gotten worse. The TSA is now checking IDs there (albeit the ones who are doing the on-the-job training). It used to be the private "security" folks, running down the checklist of what to look for (really there was one, taped to the podium in a plastic protective sleeve).

Yesterday, with the TSA-Liters, and someone hauled up from baggage, presumably to handle the abysmal lines. Not all podiums were in use, either. Those podiums were put in to answer the "choke point" problem (read: bad TSA PR) addressed a few months ago. Yesterday had the longest lines I've seen there in awhile.

Speaking of Texas, I left AUS last week. I laughed out loud when I saw the TSAer bend over and use his little instrument, whatever you call it, to look at all the IDs.

Is the line longer due to the TSA checking IDs?

PHL - Terminal D. Nasty, dirty, loud barkers at the Entrance to the maze. . . and all the way through the checkpoint. This has to be what Dante had in mind . . .

Just to clarify, the "plexi doors" you are referring to is actually just one door, and at that its a barrier-like construction (akin to European supermarkets), and its not a Customes officer (customs are before check-in), but a Passport control officer scrutinizing your papers.

You don't always have to walk 3/4 of the building to the gate, it depends where your flight departs from, and which side of the Departure Hall you entered in the first place (there are 4 options).

I don't think its such a bad procedure, actually, but overall, SVO sucks, I agree (waiting anxiously until SVO 3 Terminal opens, its supposed to be very nice).

For US airports, I vote for PHL (NW Gates), very claustraphobic entrance, and you have to find it first!

Agreed. Totally :D

LAX American Terminal

LAX in general. They ought to demolish that thing and start over.

DSM - The line backs up so you reach the top of the escalator with nowhere to go.

ICT - Could they make the right lane any narrower?

Manila - Philippine Airlines International terminal takes the prize for me.

- Car gets checked to get into the airport (well, they look in the trunk)
- Line up and show your booking/ticket and passport to the man with the gun to get through the building doors
- Security check number 1 - full screen of bags and body, including pat-down
- line up for check-in (after finding which desk to use)
- line up to pay for Aiport Tax
- line up for immigration control in a little corner of the terminal, then when stamped, turn back from where you came and go through to
- final immigration control and security number 2

While I have been through some US airports and it has taken a long time to be processed (Orlando comes to mind), Manila is ... well.... different.

Narita rescreens transiting passengers. I was appalled. The only thing that made it better was that the Japanese screeners looked truly apologetic about inconveniencing the passengers, which we all know TSA is only happy to do.

How in the name of all that is holy do they think I'll obtain something dangerous? I just got off the plane. And yes, people who were getting off in Tokyo had to get screened too. I think.

This airport was built for the modern communist citizen and not for capitalists like us. ;)

Chertoff and Hawley would love it there.