What happens when an international flight lands at an airport with no customs processing?
Passengers on two Delta Air Lines flights from Mexico found out when their planes were forced to divert to Montgomery Regional Airport (MGM) in Alabama, a civil-military airport without US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities, and were stuck on the tarmac overnight.
Flight DL 1828 was en route to Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL) from Los Cabos International Airport (SDJ), and Flight DL 599 was also on its way to Atlanta from Mexico City’s Benito Juarez International Airport (MEX) on April 10, 2025. Both flights were forced to divert to Montgomery Regional Airport, located roughly 11 kilometers from Alabama’s capital, due to bad weather.
The flights landed safely at Montgomery Regional Airport between 21:22-21:30 local time in the evening, which meant that CBP officers would likely be able to reach the airport the following day.
“Flights from international points of origin must arrive at an airport Customs and Border Protection staffing and facilities for processing, this was not possible until early Friday morning when a special accommodation was reached with Montgomery airport officials and CBP,” a Delta spokesperson told FOX Business.
Nearby airports with a CBP facility like Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport (BHM) were also not accessible because of the weather.
Passengers on the two Delta flights were then forced to spend the night inside the aircraft parked on the tarmac until the following day, April 11, 2025, when special CBP officers arrived at the airport and other arrangements could be made.
The passengers were finally allowed to enter the airport, and depart for Atlanta close to 12:00 noon local time on April 11, 2025.
1 comment
Just 95 miles away, about 1:30 by car is the Birmingham, Alabama (Shuttlesworth) International airport.
Is it a stretch to send a customs agent over to Montgomery?
Is there anyone on management or operations that cannot make a decision at Delta?
Delta did take pretty decent actions by refunding all funds related to the flights to each passenger, however have people lost all initiative and imagination in doing the right thing?
Or how about have the state police monitor some busses and “quarantine” the passengers on a bus(s) to take them to Birmingham?
Maybe Delta should put a Line Service Supervisor or Maintenance Supervisor in charge, they just roll up their sleeves and get the job done.