Transmitted via electronic email
Samuel Shinohara
Managing Director, Airport Operations
United Airlines
523 Chalan Pasaheru
Tiyan, Guam 96913
RE: Airport Policy and Procedures Affecting Guam Travelers
Håfa adai Director Shinohara,
Over the past several months, I have received many complaints from Guam residents and others concerning certain burdensome travel procedures which have been implemented for passengers traveling from Guam and transiting through Hawaii to the U.S. Mainland. Such procedures as described to me seem unreasonable and unnecessary. And, we are unaware of any other domestic routes with these protocols in place for transiting passengers traveling from one U.S. destination to another.
While I am not blaming United Airlines, I am writing to you to find out why these new measures were implemented. Who is responsible and what can be done to eliminate or mitigate the discriminatory and burdensome effects on Guam travelers?
As I understand it, Guam passengers who are flying to the U.S. Mainland via Hawaii must claim their bags in Hawaii after a seven (7) plus hour flight; then clear their bags through U.S. Customs; then leave the arrival area on the ground floor with their bags; then haul their bags upstairs even though the bags have been tagged in Guam to their final destination; then process their bags through agricultural screening in the upstairs terminal departure area; and then recheck their bags at the appropriate departure counter. It is worth noting that the baggage claim arrival area is at the opposite end of the Honolulu International Terminal Building from the United Airlines Departure check-in counter, and there is limited elevator availability and capacity on the ground floor. So, as I’m sure you can appreciate, the trek under this new procedure can be quite difficult, especially for elderly and handicapped passengers from Guam to the U.S. Mainland.
To summarize, upon arrival in Honolulu, transiting Guam passengers must now:
1. First claim their bags in the baggage claim area even if ticketed to their final destination;
2. Clear the bags with Customs and Border Patrol;
3. Haul their bags upstairs across the terminal to the departure area;
4. Have them inspected and processed by an Agricultural Agent even though they have never left the Terminal,
5. Carry the bags to a United Airlines ticket counter to recheck them to their final destination in the U.S. Mainland;
6. Go through TSA screening; and
7. Then try to catch their connecting flight.
Please let me know if I have misstated the current process, and then please explain why these new burdensome obstacles have been imposed on Guam passengers who, along with their bags, have gone through TSA screening on Guam.
These new steps continue to add to the inconsistency of airline and related policies when it comes to travel to and from Guam via Hawaii. It also adds a tremendous level of inconvenience for our island travelers, especially for the elderly and handicapped, not to mention families traveling with young children.
As the Managing Director for United Operations at the A.B. Won Pat International Airport Guam, I’m sure you understand how crucial it is for passenger transits to be streamlined, fluid, and efficient. But with the current procedures in place, many of our people find themselves in stressful situations, both physically and mentally. As many constituents have mentioned to me, these new additional steps to passenger travels seem not only cumbersome but discriminatory as well.
As you also know, Guam is a geostrategic vantage point for the United States military. However, even with our territory deploying more military enlistments per capita than any U.S. state, Guam is not really considered to be part of the United States. Even as U.S. citizens, people in Guam have less rights than mainland citizens do. This new procedure adds to a list of discriminatory actions towards Guamanians that make us feel like second-class citizens, when we know we are not.
With the military buildup taking off and more military activity occurring on the island with the patriotic support of the Government of Guam and our community, it just doesn’t make sense for our people to be treated this way. Especially since Guam and Guamanians are clearly the first line of defense for all of the United States.
With so many constituents raising questions, complaints, and inquiring about the new procedures, I do hope you can provide me with an explanation and/or some relevant information to understand why the subject supplementary steps are imposed on Guam passengers when transiting through Hawaii from Guam on the way to the U.S. Mainland.
I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.
Si Yu’os ma’åse,
Jesse A. Lujan
Senator, 37th Guam LegislatureAirport Policy and Procedures Affecting Guam Travelers