"The check-in staff at the airline counters (all manned by employees from St. Maarten) are extremely inept at their jobs. I have been coming to St. Maarten for over 20 years and have yet to find an efficient agent. They need training from the airlines they represent because they are incredibly slow. The nightmare at Princess Juliana Airport begins with them because they don’t know how to do their jobs in a timely manner."

Not to discount the issues you encountered but I have often found helpful and efficient people working the counters. Not all of them are but when we needed help with a friend leaving unexpectedly due to a death in his family it, was handled very well.

Not ALL of the employees are "from" St. Maarten. they might live on the island but that does not mean they are native to the island.

I personally know two local people who work for one of the different ground services agencies and one has over 20 years experience in the travel field. The other local person was sent to NJ for some type of training with Continental Airlines prior to being hired to work the counter in SXM. She has now been promoted, although I do not know her current job description.

I can not address the passport checks and the security issues but it does sound like there needs to be some changes made there.

It is our choice as to where we travel and there are places I would never return based on a bad experience. It is not fair to paint EVERY employee with the same broad brush. I am not saying every employee gets the proper training but I know for a fact some DO get some training and some are very friendly and efficient and able to do their jobs.