[Idyllchat] RE: JFK, Alitalia, Delta

[Art and Marilyn Bervin]

Having just returned from a two-week trip to England, my wife and I 
read of the JFK experience with more than a little interest as it was 
the duplicate of this week's transit at O'Hare.  You'd think that 
after six years of heightened security our airports would have 
figured out ways to be more efficient.  We have had our struggles in 
Frankfurt, CDG, and now O"Hare.  The common thread in all of them 
amounts to redundant screenings for passengers making connecting 
flights.  Somehow, passengers screened in other airports are moved 
into insecure areas as they move from terminal to terminal.  And then 
it's back to the 3-ounce bag, removing belt and shoes, and usually 
long, slow lines.  Only in Baltimore did I find that the airport had 
constructed a bypass that allowed passengers to move from terminal to 
terminal without leaving a secure area.

As for O"Hare, Dante had an easier time passing through the Inferno. 
We had two hours between flights and fancifully envisioned picking up 
a slice of pizza or a sandwich between flights.  Instead, our 
problems started with a last-minute change of gates that delayed our 
exiting the plane.  Take away ten minutes.

My wife and I, both equipped with long legs, strode to the passport 
control area, only to find a long, slow line.  Take away 30 minutes. 
At least picking up our bags and rechecking them was efficient.

As directed, we took the train that would move us from Terminal 5 to 
Terminal 1.  Then the fun began.  When we exited the train, we were 
in an insecure area.  Up to that point, signage was OK, but once we 
entered the ticketing area, all signage stopped.  Signs for the B and 
C parts of Terminal 1 vanished.  Finally we found a very long line 
feeding into "C."

Had we not elbowed our way into the line, we would have missed our 
plane.  No doubt about it.  When we could talk to someone about 
jumping the line even more, he assured us that we would be through 
the line in 10 minutes.  Wrong.

After serpentining back and forth, a young woman asked whether anyone 
had a plane leaving in 10 minutes.  When I said our plane would be 
boarding in four minutes, she assured us we had plenty of time. 
Wrong on both counts.  If a traveler's plane would leave in 10 
minutes, reaching the gate was all but impossible.  Then, once we 
finally were screened, my screener said, "It's just a five-minute 
walk to your gate."  Wrong.  My wife and I ran most of the way to 
C-27 and were among the last four or five passengers to board. 
Without that run, we would have been locked out.

Clearly those responsible for screening need to have better 
information about time and timing.  Every response we had was wrong.

But, more to the point, our British friends have had far more 
experience with terrorism than we have had here.  Surely the Heathrow 
screening is as good and as thorough as any one can find.  The 
challenge for airports is to find efficient ways to allow previously 
screened travelers to reach connecting flights.  There would be fewer 
frazzled travelers, and screening lines would be shorter for those 
just starting a trip.

Not only is it useful to hear about transfer problems at airports, 
but it would be equally helpful to compile a list of 
traveler-friendly airports as well.  I'm glad to hear that someone 
found CDG less formidable than we did a few years back.

Safe travels, Marilyn and Art Bervin
-- 
Some people drink at the fountain of knowledge; others just gargle.  -anon.

If you have the same ideas as everybody else but have them one week earlier
than everyone else then you will be hailed as a visionary. But if you have
them five years earlier you will be named a lunatic. 	--Barry Jones

When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know
peace. 	--Jimi Hendrix