According to a report by the Global Gateway Alliance on summer 2013 airport customs line delays, JFK International Airport has the longest average wait time, longest average maximum wait time and longest wait time during peak hours.
The average delay at JFK during the summer months of June, July and August was 23 minutes. The average maximum delay was 57 minutes and average maximum delay during peak hours in August reached two hours.
“There needs to be a significant change in the way US and Border Protection (CBP) operates, since this massive influx of passengers shows absolutely no sign of slowing down and we rely so heavily on increasing international tourism and business travel,” said Joseph Sitt, Chairman of GGA.
The report looked at data from John F. Kennedy International, Miami International, Los Angeles International, Newark Liberty International, and Chicago O'Hare International Airports.
GGA’s recommendations for improving wait times, without sacrificing security, include: installing Automated Passport Control kiosks; creating on-call CBP rapid response teams and eliminating preclearance facilities in unnecessary locations.
“One way to combat drastic wait times at JFK is to assign more CBP Officers and decrease their administrative duties,” said Steve Sigmund, Executive Director of GGA. “We also need to provide better information to passengers, many of whom are arriving from foreign countries and may be unfamiliar with New York.”
The report was compiled from publicly available data on the CBP web site.
For more information on the GGA and the report, please contact Stefan Friedman, [email protected] or (646) 241-7786.