Is the USA airport immigration process now the slowest in the world for Foreign Crew?
United States Federal Regulations imposed strict guidelines a while ago on delays on the tarmac and how airlines have to conduct themselves. In 2016 American Airlines was fined 1.6 $ million for violating the tarmac delay rule. This is all well and good and passengers should be treated with consideration and respect.
So from a country that imposes these rules on pilots like myself and fines airlines I find it incredible that there are no rules concerning how long US immigration can keep airline crews waiting at immigration. In recent years the delays and treatment have become worse and we are frequently not cleared until well after our passengers, and sometimes after passengers that have arrived on subsequent aircraft, have gone through. I think an hour and a half a few months ago at LAX was one of the worst I have had recently.
As a crew member going through immigration what matters most is:
a) The length of the queue
b) The length of time it takes to process each crew member.
For the two items above the USA is probably the worst crew experience in the world. the majority of immigration officers are polite, especially the older ones but a few appear quite hostile, abrupt or totally fed up with their job.
Some of the issues I have with USA immigration are:
Only one immigration officer on duty when there are two or three crews waiting. With A380s this can be 40 people or so.
1) They insist on checking the finger prints of both left and right hand. I can understand one or the other but why both? Those pilots who use Global entry only have to present one hand. Why does it take longer to process a crew member with a visa than it takes to process a passenger travelling under the visa waiver program or ESTA?
2) Any passenger who has to be expedited is often ushered to the front of the immigration queue. Now I appreciate and agree that wheelchair passengers should be given priority (although some passengers into the USA unnecessarily ask for a wheelchair in the correct belief they will get through immigration more quickly) but sometimes there are 8 immigration queues yet the wheelchair passengers are only ushered into the crew queue.
I cannot comment on arriving in the USA as a passenger but I can say that arriving as a foreign pilot the experience leaves a lot to be desired and has got worse in recent years. A few years ago departing the USA the TSA were unnecessarily rude and unpleasant but recently there has been a big change and the TSA have been noticeably more polite. Crews now get through security more quickly. It would be nice if immigration could also be targeted and improved.
One of my colleagues did (unwisely) complain a while ago at the aggressive way members of his crew were being treated at immigration. The supervisor listened and then led him away for secondary screening. The others had to wait a while in the bus for him to appear. This was clearly bullying and intimidation of someone who had dared to complain about crew treatment.
Crews arriving at US immigration have often been on duty for 8-12 hours and the experience is getting noticeably worse. Even in places like Iran where I might expect hostility I have been treated with great respect and the processing of the crew has been swift and pleasant. Surely the US could do so much better?
Last edited by suninmyeyes; 15th Apr 2017 at 13:12.