Monday, Monday...

The importance of a good specification

I was standing over there by the tomatoes
And here he come
Running thru the pole beans, thru the fruits and vegetables
Ray Stevens

Earlier in the blogs, I mentioned that San Jose has just completed renovation of their terminal. This is a big step up, as you no longer have to walk across the tarmac in the rain to enter the main building.

Unfortunately, they did not plan any method of segregating arriving passengers from departing passengers, or international arrivals from domestic arrivals. The end result of this lack in the specifications, is that it is just possible to enter the country illegally – even by accident – and cause issues when trying to leave the country when missing a passport stamp.

This is bad.

Worse yet, it is possible for unscrupulous individuals to bring contraband from countries with less thorough security measures, and hand it off to someone boarding a flight to a country where security is tight. This handoff can happen inside the security perimeter, near where you actually board the plane.

The obvious solution? Segregate the arrivals, even if it means disembarking at one gate then moving the aircraft to another gate for boarding.

The Costa Rica solution? Have 10 people stand on the ramp leading to the plane and do a second physical search of carry on baggage and passengers before they board their plane.
On the Ramp.
As people are trying to board.
After they have put pens, documents, sunglasses, change and car keys back in their pockets for destination use.
Removing shoes and belts.
Can you see any problems???

Also, this means no liquids – that large bottle of water you purchased inside security? Throw it away…

Sigh...

Some things about Central America won’t be missed.