"George Bush Intercontinental Airport a model for international arrivals"

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

George Bush Intercontinental Airport a model for international arrivals
The Houston (TX) Business Journal


Efforts to establish cutting-edge products and processes has led George Bush
Intercontinental Airport to be named the first "model port of entry" by
United States Customs and Border Protection bureau. 

The agency said improved signage, multilingual explanatory videos and
modernized procedures instituted by the airport over the past year ease the
process of arriving in America. 
 
Processes currently implemented at Bush Airport will be replicated in
Washington-Dulles International Airport in the coming months and serve as a
prototype for international airport operations around the country. 

Bush Airport, the nation's sixth-busiest airport, was selected because of
its status as a gateway for foreign travelers and its diverse and vibrant
economy, the CBP said. The airport's Terminal D, known as the International
Arrivals Terminal, processes more than 10,000 arriving passengers a day. 

The model port concept is a joint initiative between Homeland Security
Secretary Michael Chertoff and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The
project seeks to make the process of entering the U.S. more streamlined,
user-friendly and understandable. 

Efforts include a new video narrated in Spanish, French, German and English
that guides travelers through the customs and immigration process. Also, a
"Welcome to the U.S." brochure and a variety of new bilingual directional
signs are designed to point the way and lessen confusion. 

Other time-saving tools include the government's traveler redress inquiry
program Web site, DHS TRIP, that enables travelers to address
misidentification issues and other problems with any of the CBP's
travel-related agencies. 

The agency also implemented a systems upgrade whereby "false-positive"
matches will no longer result in travelers being referred for additional
inspection, once it has been confirmed that they are not the person of
interest. Since February 2005 this upgrade has resulted in more than 25,000
subsequent inspections being avoided, saving time for travelers and CBP
officers.

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