Bmda: No overtime for U.S. Customs in Bermuda

Passengers travelling on the new USA 3000 flight to Baltimore will have to go through US Customs when they arrive in Baltimore – there will be no pre-clearance in Bermuda.

Airport General Manager James Howes said: "This was understood all along that US Customs (in Bermuda) closes at 5 p.m. and the only way passengers could be pre-cleared in Bermuda is if the US Government approved extended hours of operation for US Customs.

"The flight is scheduled to leave at 7.50 p.m., so rather than paying them overtime, passengers will go through immigration in Baltimore because there US Customs does not close until 10 p.m.

"US Department of Homeland Security turned down pre-clearance because they could not see justification for paying US customs workers overtime."