LAX hardly alone when it comes to Customs congestion

customs.jpgActually, Miami International and JFK seem to be in worse shape, according to the WSJ's Scott McCartney. Not that it's a cakewalk to get through Tom Bradley - average wait times in May jumped more than 100 percent compared with a year earlier and the maximum wait was nearly 100 minutes. But at JFK's Terminal 4 the longest wait was almost three hours. Also not great are Dallas and San Francisco. And we're not even into the crowded summer vacation season. Who's to blame? Congress, of course. From the Journal:

CBP acknowledges that wait times have increased. It says the problem is the agency doesn't have enough officers. Over the past three years, the number of people arriving at U.S. airports from abroad is up 12%, to record levels of more than 100 million a year, a senior CBP official said. Yet the number of agents at airports authorized by Congress essentially is unchanged, the CBP said. Airports and airlines say long lines got longer this spring with the sequestration, the series of federal budget cuts that went into effect March 1. Several airports such as LAX and Miami complain CBP isn't paying overtime for extra officers at peak hours. CBP says it is saving up its overtime budget for this summer, and has been able to manage sequestration cuts by saving money elsewhere.

More by Mark Lacter:
American-US Air settlement with DOJ includes small tweak at LAX
Socal housing market going nowhere fast
Amazon keeps pushing for faster L.A. delivery
Another rugged quarter for Tribune Co. papers
How does Stanford compete with the big boys?
Those awful infographics that promise to explain and only distort
Best to low-ball today's employment report
Further fallout from airport shootings
Crazy opening for Twitter*
Should Twitter be valued at $18 billion?
Recent Travel stories:
Letter from Down Under: Welcome to the Homogenocene
American-US Air settlement with DOJ includes small tweak at LAX
A fallen soldier was aboard his flight to LAX
'Fasten your seatbelts' in song and dance (video)
14 California bookstores in nine days

New at LA Observed
On the Media Page
Go to Media

On the Politics Page
Go to Politics
Arts and culture

Sign up for daily email from LA Observed

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner


Advertisement
Mark Lacter
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.
 
Mark Lacter, business writer and editor was 59
The multi-talented Mark Lacter
LA Observed on Twitter and Facebook