Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2019-11-25)

59

LAXoutpostsaretheirbrand’smost
profitablelocations.
Turnsout,evenwithsteeppricetags,
peopleliketoeatwhenthey’rebored.
That’swhyPandaExpresssellsmore
than120,000poundsoforangechickena
year,andCaliforniaPizzaKitchenslings
244,000pies.

⑧Theyscreen

you 20 times

beforecustoms

Ofthe34,000travelerswhotouchdown
dailyatLAX’sTomBradleyInternational
Terminal,about 500 getselectedforsec-
ondaryscreeningsbyCBP,andtwoor
threegetsentbacktowhencetheycame.
Butthosearejustaverages.Duringmy
shiftwithimmigration,I countedthree
individualswaitingina holdingarearem-
iniscentofa dentist’soffice.
Whysofewdetainees,giventhecur-
rentpoliticalclimate?Computersdo
mostoftheworkfarbeforeyouarrive—
startingfromtheminuteyoubookyour
ticket.Bythetimeyouwalkthrough
thearrivalshall,yourprofilehasbeen
crosschecked 20 differentways,first
via a risk-assessmentalgorithm and

thenagainstwatchlistsmaintainedby

numerousgovernmentorganizations.

Thatsaid,about1.5%ofallarriving

passengersarebreakingthelawwhen

theyland—justnotina waythat’llget

themexpatriated.Usuallythey’recar-

ryinga banneditem,knowinglyornot.

Theprosciutto youbought inItaly?

Yeah,that’snotallowedby theU.S.

DepartmentofAgriculture.Thefoiegras

fromFrance?Nope,notthateither.

⑨Exoticfoods

aren’ttheonly

contraband

CBP’smain goalisn’t to deny your

indulgencebut tokeep outinvasive

species,suchasthecitruscankerthat

threatensFlorida’sorangeindustry.

Someprohibiteditemscanbeantic-

ipatedbasedonorigin:WhenAfrican

flightslandviaHeathrow,theteamsees

aninfluxofproducepackedinsoil—

usuallyplantspeopleintendtore-pot

intheirstatesidehomesandgardens.

Russiansbringinoutlawedbelugacaviar.

Asianinboundsarewhenagentsreally

starttogrittheirteeth.Bannedpango-

linscales,beargallbladders,deerhorns:

JustLanded

BEIJING
Thetwo-month-old
ZahaHadid-designed
BeijingDaxing
InternationalAirport
hasa partnershipwith
HuaweiTechnologies
Co.,whichprovides
facialrecognition
technologyso
travelerscancheck
luggage,gothrough
security,andboard
theplanewithout
evershowingID.

ISTANBUL

Withplanstobecome

theworld’sbusiest

transitcenter,the

city’snewfacilityhas

introduceda fleetof

child-sizehumanoid

robotstomakesure

noonegetslost.

LONDON

Aspartofa

$650million

redevelopment

thatstartsrolling

outin2020,the

supercentralCity

Airportwillfeature

thefirstfullydigital

airtrafficcontrol

tower.It’sactually

a remotemission

controlcenter,

combiningreal-

timefootagefrom

16 cameras.

SINGAPORE

JewelChangimight

bethefirstairport

whereyoumissa

flightbecauseyou

werehavingfun.

Openedinthespring,

it hasbouncy“sky

net”walkwaysthat

cutthroughanindoor

forestcanopy,a

hedgemaze,anda

75-footwaterfall,plus

playgroundsgalore.

STUTTGART

Thissecondaryhub—

notthesprawling

FrankfurtAirport—

is pavingthewayfor

thefutureofGerman

transit,witha pledgeto

befullycarbon-neutral

by2050.That’snot

justhotair:Alreadyit’s

partiallypoweredby

a rooftopsolararray,

useselectricvehicles

tomoveallpassengers

andcargoaroundthe

airport,andemploys

a specialairtraffic

controlsystemthat

coordinateslanding

patternsforoptimal

fuelefficiency.

Seeminglyeveryexoticanimalhasa

medicinal or aphrodisiac body part.

Michael Ferguson, who oversees the

team’s agriculture division, didn’t even

bat an eye at what I found—elk geni-

tals packed in a handsome wooden box

worth about $500. Apparently, this is

common. Less ordinary was the tiger

penis worth more than $100,000 that he

discovered last year.

Live creatures regularly come through

too, and rare animal trafficking is a major

federal offense with penalties of up to

20 years in prison. On Ferguson’s very

first day, a passenger from East Africa

opened her suitcase to reveal rotting

dried fish covered in hundreds of tse tse

larvae. When they jumped out and clung

to Ferguson’s vest, the flustered woman

reached across the counter and started

eating them off his uniform. Then there

was the Vietnamese man who tried strut-

ting through security with 84 songbirds

taped to his body. He’d put elastic bands

around their beaks, squeezed them in

toilet paper tubes and strapped the tubes

to his legs under a pair of baggy sweat-

pants. When questioned, he explained

that he was entering them in a stateside

singing competition.

Finding contraband at the offsite

USPS mail facility was truly bizarre: In

one day, I found pinky-nail-size baggies

of drugs wedged into the cylinders of

working pens, sewn into the hem of a

baby’s bib, and stuffed into a speaker

where the wiring should have been. Most

of this had been ordered by Americans

from overseas. Even more disturbing

were tools for potential terrorism, such

as cell phone signal jammers.

Some contraband can be smelled if

not seen. Shark fins, swallows’ nests,

grapevine clippings, elephant feet, dried

bats, monkey skulls, even a mummified

human hand—they’ve all come through

the facility. And if you’re an optimist like

me, wondering if they’re all bound for a

museum or university, you’ll be disap-

pointed to learn that they most definitely

weren’t. (Research materials travel with

special government-issued permits.)

One time, the team popped a can

of Pringles and found a live cobra. The

snake now lives at the San Diego Zoo. <BW>

LAX is overhauling its facilities to the
tune of $14 billion. Here are some
cutting-edge features it could borrow
from its new and recently updated peers
around the world. By Nikki Ekstein

AIRPORTS Bloomberg Pursuits November 25, 2019