Doing the McCarran shuffle

This week marks the last shuffle of airlines into McCarran International Airport’s Terminal 3.

But it’s just the beginning of trying to solve a problem there that was foreseen months ago and needs to be fixed before it gets out of hand.

International air carriers made the first move to the shiny, new $2.4 billion terminal when its doors opened June 27. Then late last month, five domestic carriers that serve about 9 percent of McCarran travelers arrived at T3 in what turned out to be a remarkably confusion-free round of musical chairs.

On Wednesday, the last puzzle piece will be set when United and Hawaiian airlines move their ticket counters and baggage claims to T3.

United, which merged with Continental Airlines and now has 47 flights a day to and from Las Vegas, is the largest carrier moving to T3, shuttling 9 percent of the market. Hawaiian, which averages just under three flights a day here, was initially located in Terminal 2 when most of its operation was charter flights, then moved to Terminal 1 and now is setting up at T3.

But you won’t see United and Hawaiian planes parked at T3. Passengers will access their flights from the D gates through an underground tram that runs between T3 and the D concourse.

Luckily, the public heeded the “know before you go” mantra last month when Alaska, Frontier, JetBlue, Virgin America and Sun Country made the move to T3. There were no mobs of lost people roaming corridors and living out of suitcases. Airport officials hope for a similar smooth transition with United and Hawaiian this week.

Meanwhile, all is not well with international arrivals at T3, at least from a Customs and Border Protection standpoint.

In January, representatives of that agency said they’d have the most modern technology in the country to help process foreign travelers arriving in Las Vegas. But they also said they’d have to juggle staff to adequately accommodate travelers.

So far, that hasn’t worked, according to airport insiders and customers who have waited in understaffed lines. It’s particularly noticeable on Thursdays and Sundays, the busiest days for international arrivals.

A passenger who arrived from London on a recent Sunday was “mortified to think that this was the introduction that people were getting about our city.”

Since McCarran management has no say in Customs and Border Protection staffing, it may take the muscle of Nevada’s congregational delegation to fix the problem.

“Knowing the hype that surrounded the opening of this new terminal, we were very underwhelmed and aggravated,” the passenger told me. “I sure hope they get their act together because this may leave visitors with a bad taste in their mouth.”