CITY'S TRAVEL ECONOMY.
STAY WITH US.
>> FAST ESPECIALLY YOUR
SEATBELTS INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL
IS TAKING OFF AT O'HARE
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.
SO MUCH SO THAT U.S. CUSTOMS AND
BORDER PROTECTION IS PREDICTING
THE AIRPORT MAY EXCEED
PREPANDEMIC PASSENGER LEVELS.
JOINING US TO TALK ABOUT THIS IS
LAFONDA SUTTON-BURKE, DIRECTOR
OF FIELD OPERATIONS FOR THE
CHICAGO FIELD OFFICE OF U.S.
CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION.
DIRECTOR THANK YOU FOR JOINING
US.
FIRST, AS THE DIRECTOR FOR THE
CHICAGO FIELD OFFICE TELL US A
BIT ABOUT YOUR ROLE AT O'HARE?
>> I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR THE
CHICAGO AREA PORTS THAT IS
MANAGED BY THE AREA PORT
DIRECTOR SHANE CAMPBELL.
I'M ALSO RESPONSIBLE FOR THREE
OTHER AREAS WITHIN THE CHICAGO
FIELD OFFICE.
THE AREA PORT OF ST. LOUIS, THE
AREA PORT OF MINNEAPOLIS AND THE
AREA PORT OF [INAUDIBLE]
>> I WOULD IMAGINE BECAUSE OF
CHICAGO'S POSITION A LOT -- IT
IS A BIG AREA TO BE IN CHARGE
OF?
>> YES, IT IS.
IT'S IN THE TOP 10 IN THE UNITED
STATES.
>> SO SINCE OCTOBER, YOUR OFFICE
HAS PROCESSED MORE THAN 1.73
MILLION INTERNATIONAL TRAVELERS
THROUGH O'HARE.
YOU ARE EXPECTING TO GET UP TO
PREPANDEMIC OR EXCEED
PREPANDEMIC NUMBERS OF SIX
MILLION PASSENGERS IN 2019.
TO WHAT DO YOU ATTRIBUTE THIS
VOLUME IN TRAVELERS?
>> I THINK THE BOTTOM LINE IS
THAT THE COVID RESTRICTIONS ARE
LIFTING.
THE MASK REQUIREMENTS ARE
LIFTING.
WE HAVE A LOW RATE OF INFECTIONS
THAT ARE OCCURRING.
SO MORE AND MORE PEOPLE ARE
BECOMING MORE CONFIDENT AND
COMFORTABLE IN TRAVELING.
>> DO YOU HAVE ANY CONCERN?
BECAUSE WE ARE TALKING ABOUT
THIS NEW OMICRON SUBVARIANT, ANY
CONCERN ABOUT THE IMPACT THAT
MIGHT HAVE ON YOUR TRAVEL
NUMBERS?
>> WELL, AS WE STATED WE ARE AT
ABOUT 1.73 MILLION OVER THE LAST
SIX MONTHS.
THE SAME TIME LAST YEAR WE WERE
AT 700,000 PASSENGERS THE SAME
TIME-FRAME.
WHICH TODAY WE ARE 148%
INCREASE.
THE ENTIRE FISCAL YEAR FOR FY OR
FISCAL YEAR 21 IS 2.2 MILLION
PASSENGERS.
SO WE DO FEEL THAT WE'RE GOING
TO BE ON TRACK TO EXCEED THE
NUMBERS THAT WE WOULD SEE NOT
ONLY IN 21 BUT IN FY20, WE HAD
2.7 MILLION PASSENGERS TOTAL.
AND WE ARE IMPLEMENTING WE HAVE
IMPLEMENTED SEVERAL THINGS TO
HELP FACILITATE THE FLOW AND
DECREASE WAIT TIMES.
SUCH AS TRUSTED TRAVELER
PROGRAM.
TSA PRECHECK.
THE LOCAL PASSENGERS PROCESSING
TIMES.
BRINGING IT DOWN TO FIVE SECONDS
AND THE ARRIVAL TIMES.
TOUCHLESS AND IT IT ALLOWS FOR
THAT DECREASE OF SPREADING GERMS
AND PROTECTING THE TRAVELER AND
MY STAFF.
>> BECAUSE THAT WAS GOING TO BE
MY NEXT QUESTION, IN FISCAL YEAR
21 THERE WERE 2.2 MILLION
TRAVELERS COMPARED TO 2.7
MILLION IN 2020.
HOW DOES YOUR OFFICE PREPARE
DIFFERENTLY AS THOSE NUMBERS
FLUCTUATE?
YOU SAID THIS TIME A YEAR AGO IT
WAS 700,000 AT THIS TIME?
>> THAT IS TRUE.
SO TRADE AND TRAVEL IS OUR
PRIMARY MISSION.
SO WE ARE NOT GOING TO
COMPROMISE NATIONAL SECURITY BUT
SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE DO TO
PREPARE IS THAT WE MONITOR THE
WAIT TIMES.
WE INSURE THAT WE ARE
COMMUNICATING WITH OUR
STAKEHOLDERS, OUR DEPARTMENT OF
AVIATION AND ALL OF THE AIRLINES
THAT ARE OPERATING WITHIN THE
CHICAGO AREA.
>> AND WHAT ARE SOME OF THE BEST
WAYS FOR TRAVELERS TO STAY
UP-TO-DATE ON INTERNATIONAL
COVID RESTRICTIONS AND CHANGES?
>> I THINK THE BEST WAY ONE
THING I WOULD LIKE TO ADD IS
INSURE YOU HAVE A VALID PASSPORT
OR TRUSTED TRAVEL PROGRAM CARD
OR BUT YOU CAN CHECK THE C.D.C.
WEBSITE THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE
CONTROL AND PREVENTION WEBSITE
TO INSURE YOU HAVE THE MOST
UPDATED INFORMATION ON INSURING
YOU HAVE YOUR VACCINATION CARD
WITH YOU.
AND THAT YOU ATTEST TO THE FACT
THAT YOU ARE VACCINATED WHEN YOU
TRAVEL.
AND I WOULD ALSO RECOMMEND THAT
YOU CITIZENS LOOK AT THE PEAK
HOURS AND MAYBE ASSUME TO TRAVEL
DURING NONPEAK HOURS.
>> COVID WAVES IN PARTS OF THE
WORLD RIGHT NOW SOME COUNTRIES
IN EUROPE ARE EXPERIENCING THIS.
HOW DO WEISE WAVES AFFECTED
TRAFFIC FLOW THAT YOU EXPECT TO
SEE HERE?
SY.
CURRENTLY, WE DON'T ANTICIPATE
THAT THOSE WILL BE AN IMPACT
BASED ON THE COMMUNICATIONS
WE'VE RECEIVED WITH THE
AIRLINES.
HOWEVER, TO BE HONEST THERE ARE
TIME-FRAMES WHEN IF IT'S A HIGH
SURGE IN A COUNTRY, THOSE
COUNTRIES ARE LIMITING THE
ABILITY FOR THE INDIVIDUALS TO
FLY IN AND OUT.
IT DEPENDS ON THE RATE.
EITHER, LOW, MEDIUM OR HIGH IF
THERE WILL BE CHALLENGES WITH
THOSE FLIGHTS COMING IN.
>> AND BEFORE WE LET YOU GO, YOU
MENTIONED A NUMBER OF PROGRAMS
TRUSTED TRAVELER, GLOBAL ENTRY
WHAT IS THE BEST PLACE FOR A
TRAVELER TO LEARN INFORMATION
ABOUT THE PROGRAMS AND IF IT'S
RIGHT FOR THEM?
>> SO I RECOMMEND TO GO TO
CUSTOMS AND BORDER
PROTECTION.GOV.
AND GO INTO GOOGLE SEARCH FOR
GLOBAL ENTRY OR TSA PRECHECK.
AND I DO BELIEVE THAT FOR GLOBAL
ENTRY, THE CHICAGO FIELD OFFICE
AT 610 SOUTH CANAL STREET HAS A
GLOBAL ENTRY PROCESSING OFFICE
IN THE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.
>> A LOT OF GOOD INFORMATION.
LAFONDA SUTTON-BURKE DIRECTOR OF
FIELD DIRECTIONS-CUSTOMS AND
BORDER PROTECTION CHICAGO FIELD
OFFICE, THANK YOU FOR JOINING
US.
>> AND WE'RE BACK TO WRAP THINGS
UP RIGHT AFTER THIS.
>> Announcer: "CHICAGO TONIGHT"
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