Philadelphia Airport

A third world country could be proud of this airport. Every aspect is wrong and reflects apalling managment. Arrived from overseas - only one INS agent for all US citizens - at least this delay meant that we were not waiting in the baggage hall as long - an hour in PHL is not unusual. Toilets all disgusting. Employess surly and inactive - mostly standing around in groups talking which is presumable why the bags take so long and the toilets are dirty - no-one seems in any way accountable for what they are paid to do. The city of Philadelphia should be ashamed of this place as the first aspect of their city many people see.

Although there was a terrible delay on my flight out of this airport while on transit I managed to study a little of Terminal F and I think it was a great terminal with several bookshops cafes and toilets. However it lacked internet facilities such as an internet kiosk which can be handy when on delay such as my flight.

Having flown out of Philadelphia International Airport for many years to both domestic and international destinations I have noticed many improvements. If you arrive up to2 hours early check in is painless and takes all of 10 minutes. I found security no more or less crowded than in other airports. Access to the airport by train is a wonderful convenience. There is room for improvement The baggage areas can use substantial upgrading and sections of the airport seem like they are under construction. PHL is not a beautiful ultra modern airport but is very practical and user friendly.

I've used PHL several times now on flights to and from MAN with US Airways. I could not disagree more with the previous correspondents. The route from the gate to the Homeland Security desks was very swift as they all are from A West. The Security was very swift; no stupid questions or anything silly. On my return to MAN the folks at check in were very polite and very very quick. The TSA were well TSA but they could have been a lot worse (have you flown international into SEA or DFW lately?) . The US Airways exec lounge was a cash bar though which was a shock and a major downer.

Having been a resident of NJ for 30+ years and traveling all over the country using both Newark Airport and Philadelphia airport I always wondered why everything was always so much more difficult dealing with the employees at Philadelphia airport. Now having moved away but still flying in to Philadelphia because of the convenience to where I am going I find everything remains the same. The nickname City of Brotherly Love sure didn't come going and coming through the airport. Security employees both inside and the police outside are horrible. What's the saying about a give someone a little power and it goes to their head? I now have the opportunity to travel quite a bit and there is nothing that can compare with the utter disregard for decent treatment of the people that use the airport in Philadelphia to the many airport facilities within the US lumped all together. I have no problem going through the security checks taking off my shoes my coat and following the rules but for someone to go through that because some big strong man has a power complex or a bad day! Whoever is responsible for these employees should be ashamed. I know the public can be rude but do employees have to take their frustrations out on those who are not.

I have to say that using PHL for the first time it was appallling. We arrived on a US aIr flight from LGW and had a connecting US Air flight to SFO later in the afternoon. Arrival after a 9+ flight was on time but chaos ensued from the moment we left the aircraft. Poor signs cramped walkways and little info. Immigration was I must say painless and efficiently handled by a friendly officer and only a short queue but as to getting our luggage & the changeover to internal flight was painful. After depositing our luggage we then found we had to go through another security check why we had already been through two very good checks at LGW. The line was about half a mile long moving slowly and even the staff trying to administer this chaos admitted it was ridiculous. We were lucky we had nearly three hours connection but other poor people stood no chance to get through this connection and security. Why have only two or three machines working and being ridiculous about shoes off belts off and then a full slow personal body search by a very unfriendly security guard while all your property is just left lying around unattended at the end of the conveyor belt. This needs to be improved for international passengers who have already been through proven efficient security checks in Europe. Getting between terminals might be good if you want or indeed need the shops but after a 9+ hours transatlantic flight a mile walk seems very hard work. More moving walkways would help or a "buggy shuttle service". Returning to LGW from SFO via PHL was even more painful. The US AIr flight landed on time but was held for over 40 minutes on the taxiway due to terminal congestion and when we eventually got off the flight we only had minutes to make the long long trek to the international gate. No help from US Air ground staff not interested in advising the other gate staff we were on our way despite asking specifically. After walking quickly about half way to our gate I managed to stop an empty buggie and asked the friendly woman driver if there was a chance in getting dropped at our gate as we were rushing to make the connection. She willingly obliged and we made our connection just as last passengers boarding. Our luggage did not make it but followed us to England 24 hours later. Having rushed to board we then left the gate on time to sit in traffic on the taxiways and waste nearly an hour before finally taking off. I would not make plans to use PHL again for any trips to the USA where connections were concerned based on these two experiences preferring other hubs who seem from our experience to handle transatlantic and domestic flights much more efficiently. Shame as it looks a pleasant modern airport what we did see of it.