Problems with Airport Security

When I went to Belgium earlier this year I had the opportunity to come back home by way of Canada. It was my first time going into Canada so I took the opportunity. I thought I might have an interesting and different experience. I would definitely say that it was different. But as to it being interesting I guess that depends upon how masochistic a person might be. I don't plan to go that way anytime soon, if ever again.

I didn't have a problem with the airlines I flew on. I went to Belgium on Continental and they were as nice as they have ever been. I hope that they will still be as nice when United finally completes their takeover. I flew back on Air Canada for the first time and they seemed to be nice. However, the airport security and customs is definitely a different story.

Usually, when I go to Europe I encounter one security check when I leave and when I return, one passport control in each direction and one customs encounter. That's not the case going through Canada. I went through security and customs in Montreal. I also went through security and customs in Toronto. This means for those of you who understand about customs, that means I had to claim my luggage each time, drag it through customs and security and recheck it back into baggage. It wasn't just time consuming, it was a snarled mess in each of the airports. Our flights were late because of the chaos and many of us were racing to gates for delayed flights.

Everything was disorganized and the lines were huge and messy. The agents were allowing those with short boarding times to go ahead of the others. I was one of those with a short boarding time. But when I asked the Montreal agent herding us into passport control, he got huffy with me and told me that the Toronto flight left every hour without allowing me to explain that it was just my connecting flight to the flight that would take me out of his country. If I missed that flight I missed the other without the luxury of a flight leaving every hour. He punished us by passing over our line in favor of the other lines until I publicly called him on it.

After passport control we had another really huge and disorganized line to get to customs and then another one through security. I got on the plane just before they closed the doors. Then we got to sit on the tarmac for about a half hour while they unloaded the luggage of missing passengers.

We were late arriving in Toronto due to the adventure on the Montreal tarmac and also because we had to wait on the Toronto runway for a gate to open up. The lines were just as disorganized and chaotic as the ones in Montreal. We went through both customs and security again. At least we didn't have to go through passport control a second time. The only other difference with Toronto over Montreal was as I got in the customs line my flight was called and the agent put me to the front of the line. But even with that I still had to go through customs and security along with everyone else and then race to the gate. I was one of the last passengers to get on the plane.

It seems to me that Montreal, Quebec and Toronto, Ontario have this need to keep everything separate and to make a point of being separate, that they each have to have a say in doing their own security and customs. But how high is that cost? I would highly recommend going by another route than through Canada if you can avoid it. As for myself I'm not even interested in visiting Canada anytime soon after this horrific experience. This experience definitely soured my view of Canada.

Belgium may have Flanders and Wallonia disagreeing on many things, as in how to run their mutual government. But at least they have figured out how to operate the same airport together in cooperation with each other with minimum fuss for the passenger. Not only were both Canadian airports chaotic and disorganized they weren't particularly pleasant to their passengers and some of their behavior was scary. I now understand why Canadians have no problem with using Detroit's airport which is just as scary as their airports. I don't repeatedly go in and out of scary airports because they have the potential for being dangerous to my well-being and my ability to get home safely

On another note about airport security that is a bit closer to home:

I usually like my home airport, Tampa International, and I'm used to the TSA going through my checked luggage on every trip to check out the canned goods I usually carry and mixing them up with my previously neatly folded clothing. But, they really out did themselves on my last trip out, which was to California.

It looked like the agents had a major snit fit. They went through everything and they not only tore the plastic bags open they literally ripped them in many shreds way beyond usefulness. They were tied with visibly obvious bows. They also ripped everything out its packaging. They didn't just open the packaging. They tore it into little pieces and flung the contents and the wrappings all over my clothing with some of them leaking everywhere.

I didn't bother to complain because it seems that this agency has been so arrogant they have always been unresponsive to my previous complaints except for a form letter that exonerates them of all blame. There are times I wish we could take the individual agents to court and sue the pants off of them, for incidents like this one and for the time the male agent decided it was alright to fondle me in a security pat-down or the time the gate agent decided to put my ten year old son on the plane without me and threatened me when I protested.

Sources:

http://www.continental.com/web/en-US/default.aspx

http://www.united.com/

http://www.aircanada.com/us/en/home.html

http://www.ifly.com/montreal-dorval-international-airport

http://www.gtaa.com/en/home/

http://www.brusselsairport.be/en/

http://www.tampaairport.com/

http://www.tsa.gov/