Honor Flight Volunteers

BWI Marshall Sendoff

Working With The Hubs Our goal is to make your trip as pleasant and rewarding as possible. We believe that the time spent at BWI Marshall should be brief and efficient so that your time in Washington, D.C. can be maximized. The information in this presentation covers some areas we need to share with you, based on our experience. Remember each airport is different. We are providing this document as it is the protocol we train our volunteers to follow so you will know what to expect. We want to do our best for every hub which comes to our airport and to make the best use of their time while they’re here!

Bus Arrangements Your motor coach carrier should be advised of your arrival time in advance. Contact your bus driver by cell phone when your flight touches down and let him or her know that you are on the ground. This will ensure that the driver proceeds to the correct door. If you are staying overnight, please let us know your travel arrangements to and from your hotel. It is very important that your group does not have to wait for their bus! Also, there are new pickup zones at the airport for BWI area hotels. We want to be sure that the hotel vans arrive and depart in a timely manner.

Catering If your caterer will be delivering food to BWI Marshall Airport, please let us know in advance. Prior to your bus trip, we may be able to help load the lunches on the bus. If meals are delivered after the bus trip (prior to the return flight), we may be able assist your group by meeting the caterer at the curb. All boxed meals from an outside vendor must be screened through the security checkpoint.   If you would like information concerning meal service available at BWI Marshall, please feel free to contact Glen Anderson or visit the airport website at www.bwiairport.com for a listing of our vendors. If your hub has arranged for meals, please let us know. We also have information for those of you who would like to use the airport restaurants. We have favorites like Arbys and McDonalds. Our full service restaurant on A/B Concourse, the Silver Diner, caters hot meals to be enjoyed at the airport and can provide boxed meals for the flight home.

Wheelchair Procedure Please note the procedure we follow regarding wheelchairs. Varying from this process and improvising at the gate may delay your trip. It is helpful if we know in advance how many chairs you are bringing if this is not already on the spreadsheet. Guardians must be assigned responsibility and manage wheelchairs. If you bring extra chairs, your guardians must manage them from the gate to the bus and upon return. Our experience with these procedures has resulted in an efficient transition of wheelchairs from the aircraft to the busses and return.

Wheelchair Procedure (continued) Wheelchairs should not be checked as baggage but tagged and put in the belly of the plane. Parts may get lost and chairs may get damaged. If brought as cargo, you must arrange pickup and delivery with the airline and your bus company. If wheelchairs are needed to transport passengers from the gate area to the bus, hub leaders must make arrangements in advance with their airline. Some hubs have rented wheelchairs locally. If you have made prior arrangement to use BWI Honor Flight wheelchairs to augment your supply, please be advised that these chairs may not be taken through security. Our best advice on bringing wheelchairs, obtaining additional chairs and for making arrangements for their use.

Returning To BWI Marshall We want your return to BWI Marshall Airport for your flight home to go smoothly as possible. The hub leader must call the BWI Honor Flight Coordinator for your flight when the bus is en route to the airport. Getting your group through security and to the gate in a timely and efficient manner requires coordination with the airport, the TSA and the airline. It is very important to us that your departure from BWI goes smoothly. We do all that we can to get you to your gate in a timely & efficient manner.

Returning To BWI Marshall (continued) Notifying the airport coordinator in advance will make sure that the airline is ready to tag your wheelchairs upon arrival. At BWI Marshall, the TSA dedicates a special security line for our returning Honor Flight veterans. When the hub leader calls the coordinator, he or she will be advised which security checkpoint will be used and where the bus driver should park. We recommend an arrival time of at least one hour before departure. If the bus will be returning earlier than anticipated, please let the coordinator know as soon as possible. Please give us up-to-date information about your return time to the airport so that we can coordinate with TSA and your airline.

Contact Information At least one of the individuals listed below will greet your group when you arrive at BWI Marshall. When your flight arrives, please contact them as soon as possible. Prior to your trip, please contact us by E-mail about issues not on the spreadsheet, changes to your schedule, etc. Glen Anderson 443-520-9224 Fred Bunk 410-294-7079 Elaine Cornell 443-306-9787 Bill Poteet 410-428-9097 Email: bwiairport@honorflight.org or ganderson@qis.net Please feel free to contact us prior to your flight for special arrangements if needed. Also, contact us when your flight arrives.

Final Notes We look forward to welcoming your veterans, hub leaders, guardians and support staff to BWI Marshall this year.   Thank you! We are here to help you, based on our experience over the past years. We also treat your hub leaders and veterans with the utmost respect. Questions?

“We can’t all be heroes. Some of us have to stand on the curb and clap as they go by.” ~ Will Rogers