Airports - A Stressful Place To Be

Gone are the day when going to the airport was a pleasure when all would bid loved ones farewell or welcome them to or back to the arrival destination. Now, just the though of going to any airport within the United States or even some of those airports overseas would make anyone have an anxiety attack. Some of the frustrating issues include:

Crowded atmosphere. Deregulation has contributed to cheaper costs which has meant over the year that flying has become more affordable for the masses. So, simply driving into the departure or arrival terminal can be lengthy and frustrating with traffic and curbside congestion as drivers stop anywhere to drop off or pick up passengers. The terminals are overcrowded with swarms of travelers hustling and bustling throughout a mini-city atmosphere that is impacted further with those hanging around as a result of delayed flights.

Travel regulations are constantly changing unexpectedly. So, one cannot anticipate what to expect when going through TSA lines. The only consistency is the removal of shoes.

Delayed flights. A traveler's hope is that their flight will leave on time, but that is a bit too much to expect. With flights coming from elsewhere, weather conditions, and mechanical issues to contend with, it is always a miracle when a flight actually takes off on time.

Overbooked flights. The flaw of overbooking flights was highlighted earlier this year with the inexcusable, forcible removal of a passenger from a United flight. So, one never knows if they will get on a flight even if they booked and paid in advance early and also check-in early.

Lost baggage.It is hard to imagine that after asking passengers to volunteer to check-on their hand luggage, an airport representative would tag the volunteer's bag to go to Bridgetown, Barbados instead of to Kingston, Jamaica.  There are worse luggage lost horror stories so passengers can only hope and pray that when they get to the arrival cities they will retrieve their luggage off the carousel.

Poor service in handling those who require wheelchair assistance. It is doubtful that since 2015 Eulen America's has improved its practice of taking American Airlines wheelchair passengers of the airplane but quickly abandoning these needy passengers in a secluded part of Miami International Airport for over an hour instead of wheeling them directly to Immigration,  baggage claims, and Customs. No better service can be extended to Direct Airline Services (DAS) serving Spirit Airlines whose shortage of workers mean that one worker may be responsible for handling two or three wheelchairs at the same time. So, while many may believe that wheelchair passengers' travels may be effortless, the reality at airports indicate that the wheelchair services workers are under much constraints and this ultimately affects disabled passengers.

Racial profiling of certain international flights. It is evident that passengers disembarking from certain international destinations face extra scrutiny by Immigration and Customs officers. Luggage will not be delivered to carousels in a timely manner. So passengers from these flights under surveillance  just have to wait patiently and watch other passengers retrieve their luggage although these passengers' flights may have arrived after the scrutinized flights. What is ironic is that passengers disembarking European flights may need to scrutinized too, but racial injustices continue to get those passengers a by pass.