Travel – Page 12 – Splendid Isolation

Just got back late last night from a trip out of town. Details to follow.

SOTI:

Earlier this month, a man was arrested after he allegedly threatened to kill TSA agents. “This is a free country,” he said before swinging a line post at officers who shocked him with a stun gun, according to charges brought against the man. Shortly before his confrontation with TSA, he was reportedly seen headbutting TV screens, stripping naked and masturbating in the airport.

Now who among us can claim never to have wanted to do all that?

I know: you never go Full Belushi.

So the UK-US “border” is finally opened, and the Brit airines (BA and Virgin) want to make a big deal out of it, so with typical Brit ceremony they schedule dozens of airliners to take off simultaneously from parallel runways, to land at NYFC’s JFK airport, likewise simultaneously.

More than 10,000 passengers flew from London to New York City yesterday on the day the US border was open to international travelers since the coronavirus crisis. British Airways took 8,600 travelers on 26 aircraft while Virgin Atlantic ferried a further 4,500 customers on ten shuttles into JFK as figures soared back to pre-pandemic levels.

And then complain when this occurs:

Hundreds of passengers were left waiting for hours at JFK airport yesterday when three planes reportedly arrived at once on the day the US border reopened. Furious travelers blasted officials for the ‘disgraceful’ planning as the aircraft landed from Manchester and weary customers flooded into customs. One flyer posted footage of the chaos on social media as masked people queued in sprawling lines as they waited to be let into the country for the first time in 600 days.

Here’s the kicker:

It is not clear if airports brought in more staff for the big reopening, but it comes amid warnings they were not ready for the huge influx of tourists.

LOL it’s New York fuckin’ City, already crushed by mandatory facemasks, mandatory lockdowns and mandatory vaccine-related staff shortages: what did you think was going to happen?

I’ve previously stated that JFK is really a Third-World-standard airport — and by that I don’t mean Singapore / Bangkok-type Third World, but the Bangalore / Nairobi kind. So to expect anything other than chaos on a normal day, let alone this one, was simply stupid.

And, of course, everyone needs a kick in the nads for this fiasco: the airlines, for making a grand gesture to overload the airports, the airports for not planning for the influx, and lest we forget, the idiots who just couldn’t wait to get here and had to be on those first flights.

Got this little tip in my email the other day:

WTF is “Podgorica”?

It says something for how out of touch I am that when I looked the place up, I recognized its old name, Titograd, in southern Yugoslavia (now known as “~~Macedonia~~ Montenegro”).

And unless I’m missing something, that landscape in the little pic is a complete lie, because Podgorica is totally landlocked — well, it’s on a river, but that’s not the sea, innit?

Of course, when I clicked on the link, that super-low price had vanished like Bill Clinton after a pre-teen sex party.

Also in travel-related email: