Sea-Tac international arrival wait times are getting worse, but relief is on the way

At midday, almost every day, Sea-Tac Airport's passport control is jammed.

Airline schedules mean many planes from overseas arrive at nearly the same time.

"We are over capacity for that time of day," said Mark Wilkerson, Seattle Area port director for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Luggage carousels for customs in the 43-year-old facility are so overcrowded, the airport pays workers just to move bags to make room.

Miguel Vilar flew in from Paris, and had to wait in a crowded corridor before even reaching passport control.

The airport holds people in a hallway between the gate and passport control to manage congestion.

Last year, the airport said the average wait -- just in the hallway -- was 25 minutes.

So far this year, it's averaging 27 minutes.

"What can a person think about that after a 10-hour flight?" Vilar said. "I just want to take my luggage and go home."

Sometimes, passengers are held on arriving planes, either on the tarmac or the gate, if there's not enough space.

Port officials said Norwegian and Virgin Atlantic planes now don't even go to gates to offload passengers, and load them directly onto buses instead.

Wilkerson said he even if he had more agents, they wouldn't be able to move passengers any faster through Sea-Tac's cramped space.

"We're very hopeful for the future and leaving this 40-plus-year-old international facility behind," said Charles Goedken, terminal operations manager for Sea-Tac Airport.

The Port of Seattle says a new international arrivals facility costing nearly $800 million will solve the problem by nearly doubling the number of international-capable gates and creating a 450,000-square-foot facility for Customs and Border Protection, compared to the 80,000 current square feet.

"A lot of the lines we see at Sea-Tac today will basically go away," Wilkerson said.

Customs and Border Protection is expected to offer biometric technology at the new facility to help move passengers through faster.

The new arrivals facility is under construction and expected to open late in 2019.

Cox Media Group