Fear of Flying: How Customs Stole Our Infinite Variety

(Video: CNN • Story: Chidanand Rajghatta – Times of India)



When Officer Figueros of the US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agency began his 10 pm shift last Monday at Washington’s Dulles International

Airport, he walked to the top of the immigration and customs line and asked the female visitor, “Are you travelling alone, ma’am?” She nodded yes, and Figueros, with exaggerated courtesy, held out his elbow and walked her to his kiosk to process her entry into the US.

Weary and cranky after delayed - and exhausting - flights from across the world, travellers in the queue cheered Figueros embroidered welcome, relieved by the comic relief he provided late in the night. Many of them were missing connecting flights in the US, and CBP and airline officials were doing their best to ease the travellers’ onward passage. But beneath the merry frontal welcome in keeping with the holiday spirit, the mood among airport and airline security officials and in the immigration and customs outpost was fraught with anxiety and tension. Read more here.

Related: 10 New Air Travel Regulations You Need to Know (FamilyTravelForum.com)

Update: Fear of flying? What happens on the ground is scarier (Vancouver Sun)