Extortion at the Airport

Is Santa Barbara Airport so desperate for money that they need to practice extortion on their clients?

I went to pick up my granddaughter who was arriving on a 9 p.m. flight. I was there early and was told I could not wait. Moved on and waited off the airport grounds.

Once she texted that they had landed, I returned to the airport and was told again that I could not wait for her. Moved on and returned when I could see a stream of passengers coming out of the building. She always flies carry-on so is quick to get off. I could see her coming when the man “guarding the curbside” harassed me again. I said that I could see her. Instead, he wrote a ticket, which he finished processing after she was in my car! In fact, he handed the ticket to her, an expensive one.

Just days before, I had flown from Paris to LAX, two enormous airports, both of which do have challenges with traffic control, both of which move thousands of cars in and out efficiently. At LAX I had to wait over an hour for the Airbus so was able to observe all the comings and goings of folks trying to pick up their friends and family. Lots of chaos at times, and there were people controlling things, but at no time was someone given a ticket.

The night I received the ticket, there were few cars at the airport. It was the furthest thing from traffic congestion that you can imagine. Is the city so desperate for money that they are willing to harass tax-paying citizens? I am outraged!