Many of you have heard the horror story about the AeroMexico flight from Mexico City to Seattle that was forced to divert to Portland, Ore. The passengers reportedly were kept prisoners on that plane for 16 hours because the airport “didn’t have enough customs agents at the airport to process the flight.”
Several bloggers have claimed this is an example for the need for a passengers bill of rights.
I don’t think so. This is no normal tarmac delay. This is incompetence and bureaucratic indifference. This is a call for some common sense on the part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at Portland’s airport. Heck, don’t we citizens pay the salaries of the customs agents?
Adding insult to injury, KATU.com reported that “Several passengers got so angry that airport police boarded the plane and gave everyone an ultimatum, [one passenger] said: ‘They gave the passengers the choice to stay on the plane or be arrested.’”
That reaction by the police is disgusting and completely nonsensical. If there were “no customs agents available to process the passengers,” how could the police get any “arrested” passengers to jail? Does Portland law enforcement maintain a separate pre-passport-screening facility? I doubt it.
I would like to think that I would have opted to be arrested. At least in jail, detainees have food and water. The entire planeload should have opted for jail just call the inane police bluff.
Kama Simonds, the airport spokeswoman, uttered pathetic statements rather than attempting to solve the problem. “We understand it was very frustrating for the passengers, but we also needed to stay within rules and regulations,” she said.
Horse hockey!
There is no rule or regulation that says government workers, paid by the citizens can not be called back to work to process passengers on a distressed flight. Portland is an international airport with flights to the orient, Europe and Canada, plus a Boeing 737 is not a giant aircraft.
Let’s be real. These passengers are the airport’s and ICE’s customers. They should get service, not the shaft.
AeroMexico has apologized to their passengers. Heaven forbid that ICE executives do the same.
Postscript: Unfortunately, this is not the only time these types of customs and immigration shenanigans have taken place in the Pacifice Northwest. About five years ago a Northwest flight was diverted to a remote airport (Moses Lake in Grant County) without customs facilities (I believe). In that case the police rather than threatening to arrest the passengers, secured the terminal and allowed them to deplane for food and water. Eventually the flight took off and landed at Seattle. That took common sense — not a passenger bill of rights.
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Too bad common sense is lacking. When it is, you’re forced to legislate.
Too damn bad. Cry me a river about the airline industry that shouldn’t even EXIST today. They were bailed out by federal dollars after 9/11, even after years of failing to make a profit. Where they deserving of federal help? NO. Are they deserving of forced federal regulation (which should be the main job of the federal government: infrastructure, transportation, etc.,)? YES.
BTW-That’s why we have laws. It’s been proven too many times that asking nicely doesn’t get the job done.
Charlie, once again you are right on the money. I live in Portland and witnessed this through the press.
There are ICE agents at PDX. There may have been only a few, but it would not have taken 16 hours for them to process a planeload of tourists.
Portland has had more instances w/their ICE officials. The XO of the PDX station was dismissed about 5 years ago as well, for being over-zealous in his protection of the border. He was deporting so many Asians who arrived in PDX from Korea and Japan (we have nonstop service to Seoul and Tokyo) that those travelers started routing their flights through LAX and SFO instead of PDX. So many avoided “De-Portland” (their new name for PDX) that Northwest & Delta both had to drop that route. The XO refused to apologize or even acknowledge the problem, even when his very job was put very publicly on the line.
That is why I agree so strongly, Charlie. PDX ICE has some serious issue that need to be addressed. And since our new POTUS isn’t afraid of taking immediate action and strong stands, maybe we can see some overhaul of the ICE bureaucracy.
Great article, CL. Keep ‘em coming!
I just looked up the story and found it on USAToday – What’s even more outrageous is that the plane was enentually ordered back to Mexico City – with the passengeres on board that were en route to SEA!
Incompetence and indifference. Portland seems like a good place to avoid for international travel.
Charlie Leocha:
Many of you have heard the horror story about the AeroMexico flight from Mexico City to Seattle that was forced to divert to Portland, Ore. The passengers reportedly were kept prisoners on that plane for 16 hours because the airport “didn’t have enough customs agents at the airport to process the flight.”
OR
Article said:
The flight was diverted from Sea-Tac Airport on Tuesday night, and passengers weren’t allowed off the plane in Portland, officials said, because no customs agents were available to process the passengers
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which one is it? NOT enough agents or NO agents were available. BIG DIFFERENCE!
The flight was unexpected, later in the evening, just where and HOW were these international passengers going to be processed BY LAW without agents?
If there were no agents at the airport, obviously there were not enough agents.
Common sense only exists in parts of the nation insulated from the federal government. . . .
why, those ICE agents have rights to not work when off shift. And why did it take 16 hours? Even if the border station closed at PDX at 10pm, would it not open at 7, 8 or 9am the next morning for a REGULAR business day?
They COULD have secured a hangar for gosh sakes and let the people go to the bathoom set up cots, and called out for pizza and chinese.
I WOULD have opted for arrest. You see I AM the troublemaker when it comes to governmental idiocy.
“Sure officer, arrest me – here I am. I REFUSE to sit down. And btw, remember, you are violating the border protection rules by taking me off this airplane. I’d rather spend 8 hours in jail and get released by a judge in the morning that sit on this plane until next week.”
“What? You AREN’T going to arrest me? Shucks,” looking around at the other passengers. .. “anyone else want off? I’m leaving – want to join me?
Actually, Portland’s a pretty good place to fly in/out/through internationally.
I have to agree with Frank above – the flight was diverted to PDX at a time when there weren’t any customs agents on duty. It was bad situation made worse by the police threatening to arrest people. Sensationalizing the story with inaccurate information won’t help get a passenger’s bill of rights passed any sooner.
I’m also amused by the typos in this article. “Boing 737″? Who makes that plane, Tigger? “Pacifice”? Spell check is not optional if you’re trying to portray yourself as a professional, Charlie..
IMHO, the agency’s name says it all: Immigration & Customs ENFORCEMENT rather than Immigration & Customs SERVICE.
On January 23rd, 2009 at 10:13 pm The man who notices things said
They COULD have secured a hangar for gosh sakes and let the people go to the bathoom set up cots, and called out for pizza and chinese.
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Who’s THEY? Does AeroMexico even operate into PDX? They had a plane DIVERT there. Who was supposed to take care of that flight? Take the necessary paperwork into Immigrations and customs? Just WHO would secure a hangar? The government? Who was supposed to PAY FOR THAT?
Let’s say, Air IRAN diverted due to an emergency situation into the US, would you want them off the aircraft? WHO WOULD HANDLE the Aircraft? Weather has been and will continue to inconvenience passengers who fly, but SECURITY AND SAFETY prevail to passengers who enter OUR COUNTRY.
Frank, we have a smaller airport in our community that has served as a backup to Denver International a few times. A similar situation happened here a couple years back – a plane load of passengers from international locations. Our airport operations people did just that – they opened an area for these people, called on the local community to help, and let these poor souls get off the plane. This is a community of less than 20,000. I would think Portland could do the same thing. Airport operations like Portland are staffed 24 hours a day – and those workers should have taken the same initiative the local airport did. It wasn’t hard – it was humane.
Whether there were NO agents or not enough doesn’t make a material difference unless you are somehow related to the situation. I’m guessing you wouldn’t have the same feelings if you were trapped in that plane for 16 hours.