ST. CROIX — A broken luggage belt at the departure gate remains a vexing issue for frequent flyers at the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport as the Virgin Islands Port Authority sources parts to repair it after months of repeated breakdowns.
When travelers on departing flights arrive at the airline counters with checked luggage, they must transport it through U.S. Customs and Border Protection security screening before dropping it off ahead of the Transportation Security Administration checkpoint.
“It’s an inconvenience,” Luz Garcia, a St. Croix native, said while pulling two, stacked storage containers with one hand, and a roller bag with her other hand after leaving the check-in counter. “You can’t get here late because you have to carry your own bags, and God forbid you have more than two pieces, plus your carry-on. It’s really bad.”
Garcia, who travels at least twice a month, has repeatedly experienced the hardship of the broken belt while boarding flights.
“How much longer are we gonna wait for it to get fixed?” she asked. “It’s been months, and it’s not the first time it has happened, so I think they need to really do something about it.”
The Port Authority temporarily hired help when the conveyor belt previously broke down to assist travelers with transporting luggage. VIPA staff replaced some parts to get the belt working for awhile, but it didn’t last.
“It’s been out for several months,” Carlton Dowe, VIPA executive director, said. “It’s broken down. That belt is over 25 years old, and getting parts for it, supplies and parts have not been easy. We’re trying to procure these parts now for several months.”
VIPA is working with its engineering consultants in Florida to find replacement parts, which might need to be fabricated due to difficulties in locating them.
“We’re trying to get our outside folks to give us some indication of where we can source the equipment,” Dowe said. “I cannot tell you a definite date when we’ll be able to get the equipment, or when we’ll be able to repair it.”
As VIPA works toward fixing the belt, travelers must carry their checked luggage through two doors to enter the security screening area. They must then maneuver the line with their bags to clear CBP, dropping them off before the TSA checkpoint at a secondary luggage belt to be loaded on the airplane.
Cherene Williams-Walters, who was born and raised on island, has dealt with the frustrating situation multiple times.
“I traveled with a lot of luggage over the summer, and we had to pay the guy to take the luggage in, and I just think that we should be past that,” she said. “You don’t have this issue at any other airport, and not because we’re in the Virgin Islands mean that we’re any less than any other place, and if the belt is broken, by now it should either be replaced or repaired.”
Williams-Walters suggested that VIPA should invest in a new luggage belt instead of replacing the broken components.
“I think what Mr. Dowe should also be looking into is the cost of replacing the belt opposed to just repairing the belt because then we’ll have that same issue in a few months to come again when another ancient part breaks down again, so with the amount of landing fees that we’re told that these airlines are paying that is causing the local people to hardly be able to travel, I think that this airport is making sufficient funding in order to be able to replace this belt and not repair it,” she said. “It’s time to step up. We’re in 2024. We’re no longer in 1980.”
Cristina Robles, a Crucian traveler, demanded more from the Port Authority for not just visitors to the territory, but for residents. She also suggested replacing the belt opposed to simply repairing it.
“We have to travel, we have to go different places because we live on an island, so it’s very important,” she said. “My grandmother, I travel with her, and I have to be lugging this luggage around, and it’s terrible and heartbreaking for me and her to be lugging all of this luggage around, so I really hope that things get better, and we do better.”
Dowe apologized to travelers for the inconvenience.
“We sympathize with that because we live for trying to move people through, seniors coming through with luggage, but one of the things that we have done before is we had some temporary hires to try to assist people with the movement of their luggage, when possible,” he said.
Before taking steps to purchase the parts needed to fix the belt from the U.S. mainland, Dowe said the Port Authority conducted a search on island to determine if it could be repaired locally.
“That’s been challenging, so we’re just trying to source the parts now,” he said.
VIPA initially entered a contract with Marco St. Croix Inc. following a bid process to get the job done.
“This was quite some ago, and we’ll deal with that,” Dowe said. “That’s a whole other issue, so I’m not discussing that at all.”
The executive director clarified VIPA does not have a contractor at this time as it works to source the necessary parts, noting he will know more regarding whether the agency’s own staff will be able to make the repairs after obtaining them.
“I don’t know what it would take; you see what I’m saying,” he said. “Once we get the part, we could figure out what we’ll have to do next.”
Shawn Baptiste, Marco St. Croix Inc. owner, remains committed to assisting VIPA to get the belt fixed.
“We’re all working as a team trying to get the situation resolved,” he said.
Jhalyrea Samuel, a cross-train agent with Silver Airways who assists at the counter and ramp, spoke about the impact the broken belt has had on operations.
“It affects us and the passengers because we have to stop what we’re doing to assist them as well, and sometimes it puts like a strain on us,” she said.
Dowe discussed rehiring temporary workers to aid travelers with their luggage.
“Just like we’ve done in the past, because it’s taken quite some time, we will try to get some assistance for people who need assistance with their luggage,” he said.
