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Dulles faulted delays { May 16 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61574-2003May15.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61574-2003May15.html
Dulles Faulted for Customs Delays
Lufthansa CEO Calls Processing of Passengers 'Medieval'
By Keith L. Alexander
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 16, 2003; Page E03
The chairman and chief executive of German airline Lufthansa yesterday blasted Dulles International Airport for its "medieval age" treatment and excessively long processing of international passengers.
Juergen Weber, the head of the airline, flew into Dulles on Wednesday and said he saw some passengers waiting in lines for more than three hours to pass through customs and immigration inspections. Weber said he plans to meet with senior officials from the Bush administration next week to discuss Dulles' problems, which he described as one "of the sicknesses" affecting the declining travel industry.
"I can tell you if the authorities here at this airport don't react very fast, business and passengers will channel through other hubs," he said. "This is the worst I've seen in the U.S. It's a day-to-day problem."
Jim Michie, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security's Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, said immigration at Dulles is operating with 20 fewer inspectors than normal, 25 percent below its usual staffing level. But, he added, the shortfall should be corrected by July after a new wave of inspectors complete their training.
Michie said the majority of arriving Lufthansa passengers yesterday were cleared within 43 minutes and only a small percentage had nearly a three-hour wait. Those passengers who had longer waits had to go through additional screening, he said.
Weber made his comments yesterday during a joint news conference with Arlington-based US Airways. The two airlines announced that they were entering into a marketing alliance, starting in October, that will allow them to sell tickets on each other's flights and permit travelers to use each other's airport lounges. The agreement also lets travelers earn frequent-flier miles on either airline. The "code sharing" alliance is expected to bring in about $50 million a year for each carrier.
The two airlines called yesterday's agreement the first step for US Airways' participation in the Star Alliance, the code-sharing group made up of 17 international carriers, including United Airlines.
At Dulles, Weber was able to bypass a long wait himself but watched and investigated the slow processing. His criticisms are not unique. Last year, airport officials criticized immigration processing at the airport, which was stranding travelers in lines for more than an hour after they had spent eight or so hours on international flights.
Airport officials said the long waits are a seasonal problem between May and August, the peak international travel season.
Richard P. DeiTos Jr., executive director of the Metropolitan Washington Airlines Committee, which represents the major airlines that fly in and out of Dulles and Reagan National, said that many top-paying international frequent travelers avoid Dulles and opt instead to fly into the United States either through Chicago or New York. That could further hit Dulles' financial position, which is already weakening because of the overall decline in travel and the slump at United Airlines, the airport's biggest carrier.
"We're in a crunch now, and as passenger loads are projected to build over the summer season, delays could just get worse," DeiTos said.
DeiTos said that when lines outside the International Arrival Building at Dulles get too long, travelers are forced to remain inside cramped mobile lounges used to shuttle passengers from planes to the concourse. Last year, the government increased the number of employees to process passengers. But funding for those new workers was removed in October, at the end of the fiscal year.
The complaints come as Dulles is facing a further challenge from Reagan National Airport. Federal lawmakers are circulating a proposal to increase the number of flights at National, a prospect that troubles United. In a letter to Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta, Glenn F. Tilton, United's chairman and chief executive, said allowing more flights into National would greatly diminish the carrier's operations at Dulles and cause further damage to the airline's revenue.
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
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