I have friends arriving today. Two couples, one has been there several times, the other has never been. They are currently standing in line. It has been over an hour and they are not even close to getting through the arrival process. The people in line are not happy. I've been going for many years and am willing to tell myself to put up with it, but for people who have never been, it is not a pleasant way to start you vacation.

I just posted the same thread 30 minutes ago. It is a terrible situation at the airport. My guests have been there now 2 1/2 hours.

Drphilsxm

As I stated in my post, it is a mess. They only allow 1 plane in per time since only 1 luggage claim belt. Hence all the different lines for each plane.

Even the people connecting to SBH or AXA used to be able to bypass the long line but if you have checked luggage even they have to wait to pick up their bags.

Wow, can't imagine what it will be this weekend.

Ah. The price one must pay to have a great time on island. Hope it does get better in time.

Yes Scott , today was totally terrible and Ed and some Folks nearly passed out . WE got them at 6.00pm . I'm totally pissed . Me and Wife went to Tortuga for dinner .

Lesley--why was today so bad? Really wondering how this weekend is going to be..

Carol , can't really say but will see how things go tomorrow .
Prayers for betterment .

Lesley … tell me it will be perfect by the 28th!

Lesley--OK, please post an update when you can.

Will do Carol and last week end was good .

Finally, The Daily Herald has an article.

CHAOS

What’s the bathroom availability when waiting in line? We’ll be arriving with younger kids in a few weeks, so I’m nervous about a potentially long wait.

Probably not much, if anything. Maybe a port-a-john outside but I doubt anything in the TEMPORARY arrival facility. Perhaps someone who experienced this recently can chime in.

We arrive on Tuesday around 3pm. I want to check to see the flights that are scheduled for that day to see how congested it will be. The airport website only gives flight info for day of and following day. Is there another way to find this info? Lesley, you have a reservation for us that day.

There are restrooms outside the TAF and inside the baggage claim area.

Here’s the latest video that walks through the facility.

https://youtu.be/a2Thhbn0uqs?feature=shared

Quote from the Herald article. "Construction of the Arrival Hall is anticipated to be finalised by the second quarter in 2024. "In time for summer travel," PJIAE said in conclusion. Well that's all fine and dandy for the summer travellers next year. But in the meantime your 2 busiest seasons for airport traffic are Winter and Spring (you should know this) and now you have a big self inflicted problem on your hands.

Just to add, we came in last Saturday and it took under 30 minutes from deplaning to being out of the airport, we came in from Philadelphia on American Airlines. There was no one else on line and we walked right through.

Article doesn't address the chaos ARRIVING either.

If jetways are operational why were AA and Delta passengers bussed to planes.

Correct.

Uh um, only 4 jet-bridges available, other large jets have always parked on the apron when the 4 primaries were occupied

And AA has ALWAYS had a jetway, unless there is more than one AA plane in. The article seems to indicate no AA planes will get jetways.

There have been as many as 3 AA flights on the ground, simultaneously, during weekdays. Some get jet bridges and some don't its always been that way.

No, the article said that AA planes would not have a jetway, as in, supposedly, NO AA planes will get a jetway. God knows, the Herald is often wrong though.

The article did not say that, re-read it again.

quote from the article " The airport did not mention that passengers travelling with American Airlines and Delta need to wait for buses to bring them to respective planes."

And yet your post before your last one stated the above. Your reference and the quote don't share the same meaning.

Yes, I took that quote to mean that NO AA planes are getting a jetway.

Ok, can't help that logic. Carry on.

Definitely carrying my bag with me to SXM. Arriving on the 28th so hoping things are better by then.

For sure, hope it gets better.

Hi Carol , today wasn't that bad , but if Airfrance and KLM arrives before the smaller flight , then it becomes a problem , sa la vie till it gets better . And I personally hate when people are looking for free food and cheap rates and would love to trash our Island . Go elsewhere then.

Lesley--OK, well, I hope tomorrow is OK, although I am concerned it is going to be a total cluster-f*ck, considering it is a Saturday.

Touch and go my Dear Carol. Prayers. And we were by Chef Davide Restaurant Sale and Pepe afterwards, good food as per norm lol 😂

It’s Not Pretty

No one was looking for free food at Sale and Pepe!
We went for good food, which we got, except for it being cold and courteous service, which we didn't get.
It wasn't our first time.....enough said

We also are willing to pay reasonable rates, but will not pay $$$ above the going rate. I think it is bad when tourists
get taken advantage of.

Not planning on going elsewhere, We have been going to SXM since the 80's and have made many friends.

Sorry your nose got out of joint, because of your friend Davide, but MANY more people agreed than disagreed,
and I guess I'm a little tired of the criticism and responding back to you ...

Terri--sorry you had a bad experience there. I wasn't sure why Lesley responded regarding Sale and Peppe on this thread anyway. If you want to start a new thread about that experience, that would be fine.

Yes I posted a link to that topic from a Facebook post that got closed.. Many negative reviews mirroring your experience. Off our list for now unless things change.

This problem is no different than a car that gets caught in a flood. Once a car goes underwater it is junk!! That is what this airport is JUNK!!! What do you do with junk, you get rid of it and buy new or start from scratch!! This building was underwater with the amount of water damage. It was junk! It's SIX full years that this building is still JUNK. Junk can not be fixed, as you think you have one issue resolved another issues pops up and so on and so on and the money pit continues!! We came in oct20th around 1:00 ish and waited after one other carrier was in one hour in swelter bodies with a couple of AC's working and now they "say" second quarter??? Management must think we are stupid to believe anything they have to say at this point or any other point. One of my clients landed yesterday for the first time ever on my recommendation. Bet I lost that client!! I can only pray that there stay at La Samanna wiped away horrible experience dealing with the arrival cluster "****"!!