Three Cheers for the old PJIA!

Maybe my memory is playing tricks with me, but I do not recall experiencing these kinds of problems posters have been describing when arriving or departing at the old PJIA terminal. Sure it was kind of rickety, and hot, too. The food situation while waiting to depart was, shall we say, limited. Never had to wait in a snake line to enter the terminal to pass immigration and retrieve checked-in luggage. Sort of in character with the rest of the island's infrastructure. Of course, there were no inspections prior to 9/11, which cut down on congestion and saved a lot of time for those departing. If it is taking as long as several hours to get through the arrival process in November, any guess how many hours (days?) it might take in February?

Not sure if you're talking about the old building, or just simply pre-irma. It is obvious that they were WAY behind schedule in reopening the terminal and they just went forward with things, when it was not nearly ready. As to why arrivals are taking so long, the 'temporary' arrival facility was not constructed large enough for the crowds. Bad planning. And as to why all of this is happening in dead high season? Come on, man!!

Would it be possible for them to revert back to the set up that was in place before all of the recent problems just to get through the high season?

What a good point dvesc. We arrive on Tuesday around 3p.m. behind the Air France AND KLM. Not looking forward to arriving at PJIA at all. The management of the airport Post-Irma has been ridiculous.

Carol, I was referring to the old building, as we have been visiting the island most every year since 1995--except for years when there were serious hurricane-related issues (Luis and Irma, then skipped '21 and '22 due to Covid concerns.) I don't remember which year it was that the new terminal opened but never would have expected that I would miss the old terminal, though it did have a bit of "Third World" charm about it. I cannot recall ever having to stand in a line for hours on end just to enter the baggage area. Whoever thinks that the arrivals will improve once they get the wrinkles out is in for a big surprise. Forget the fact there is only one conveyor belt, as you pointed out the room just is too small.

@dvesc They needed to build a temporary arrival facility so that work could begin on the new permanent arrival facility. Needed to clear out the space so construction could begin. With the six year delay I assume they made the decision to make these changes during high season rather than additional delays.

cacapasa--back when they had the OLD building, the traffic through the airport was a lot less than what it is now. I really don't know what the exact numbers are, but I'm sure those numbers wouldn't be that hard to find, if I weren't too lazy to look them up.

I personally miss the old Cafe Juliana, which was upstairs, as the food and the view there was better than anything in the new building ever was, or will be, for sure. I DON'T miss having to haul very HEAVY carry on bags up those stairs. I miss the old, literally outside bar, where one could sit and get your last dose of sun and warmth, before heading back to the cold north. I do NOT miss not having a jetway, especially as I grow older. Other than those things, I really don't remember much about the old airport. Nostalgia is a great thing, and in general, I think one has a tendency to remember ONLY the good things. The bad stuff generally kind of fades from memory.

The current arrivals situation is untenable, but allegedly, it is only temporary. I do not know whether there will be more than one conveyor belt for luggage or not. Pre Irma, there was not.

All of which is not to say at all that I am sticking up for PJIA management, which I think has done a positively poor job of "managing" this rebuild of the airport. Why that is, I don't really know, but there are zero excuses in my mind for the airport still being in the state it is, six years post Irma. I am concerned however, that they have gone totally techie in the rebuild and it only takes one or two tech breakdowns to totally break the system. Hopefully that won't happen very often, but I fear it WILL happen. And when it does, there will be a whole heck of a lot of unhappy people. As I often have the opportunity to say in my work "computers are great, when they work". We shall see how things turn out.

There were 3 luggage carousel with the opening of the new airport(pjia) in 2006 and there will be 3 luggage carousel when the current renovations are completed.

Huhm, OK. I just remember one long belt that kind of swirled around? I guess I am remembering post Irma.

Yes, I thought the old building was cool in that it had charm. I use to love grabbing a beer while waiting for the luggage!!