Why Has No One at Orlando Int’l Airport Noticed This Bungle?

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For the most part, I love Orlando International Airport (MCO); I really do. Back when I lived in the northeast and visited Disney a lot, the airport brought me to my then-favorite place in the world. Now that I live in Central FL (and am not so much of a Disney fan; go figure), it’s my “hometown” airport, so I have positive feelings about that, simply because of familiarity.

MCO has its share of problems, some of which they really can’t help much (family vacation spot of the world = families who don’t go to airports very often and therefore aren’t really prepared for the TSA checkpoint when they get in line, which slows everyone down), and some of which they’re fixing (they’re looking to install a moving sidewalk on the 65-mile long Terminal C). And hopefully, they’ll have a Starbucks in the United Terminal one of these years (PRETTY PLEASE!?!)

But when Joe and I were flying from MCO to Delta the other week, we noticed something we never had before. It is something that makes no sense and just has to be an oversight.

It’s this.

You’re probably saying to yourself, “OK yeah, it’s a Mailsafe Express” box. What about it?”

Mailsafe Express got its start sometime in the early 2000s. They’re essentially mailboxes on-site at a handful airports so if you’re caught at the TSA checkpoint with something you shouldn’t (knives, scissors, tools, lighters, too many liquids, etc.), you can send it back home to yourself (they say on their website that they can’t ship anything that’s considered illegal and/or prohibited by the U.S. Postal Services, such as weapons, ammunition, batteries, flammable liquids, and explosives).

Mailsafe Express isn’t affiliated with the U.S. Post Office; they’re a separate entity. And they charge as such; currently:

• Per item: $11.95 + actual postage
• Per bag of liquids (they specify “including snowglobes.” I love that): $21.95 + actual postage
• Each lighter: $24.95 + actual postage

Postage rates: Standard postage rates will apply, not to exceed an additional $5. And they suggest to allow 3 to 4 weeks for delivery.

Hey, everybody’s got a hustle, right?

But I get it. I mean, if you always have your great-grandfather’s pocket knife in your pocket and simply forgot not to bring it, you don’t want to lose it forever by giving it up to the TSA agent, or dumping it into an amnesty box. So you might be willing to consider shipping it to yourself for $11.95 + postage.

But here’s the thing. The Mailsafe Express box at MCO? It’s past the TSA security checkpoint. Like, you will have had to go past the officer who checks your ID, went through an X-ray AND be on your way to the MCO Automated People Mover (APM) before you get to the Mailsafe Express box in question.

Here it is in relation to the APM that goes to Gates 100-129

And, although it’s admittedly a crappy picture, here’s what it looks like if you look in the other direction – you’re essentially looking at the “get your stuff together” area that’s AFTER you’ve gone through the TSA security checkpoint for Terminal B.

On a map of MCO’s A/B Terminal, it’d be roughly where that red arrow is pointing on the right-hand side of the map/photo:

Yep, most definitely AFTER the TSA security check.

So if your bag went through X-ray and the security officer found your great-grandfather’s pocket knife (or that $100 Encanto snow globe you got at Disney, or the bottle of perfume you forgot was in a side pocket), you’d never be able to utilize that Mailsafe Express box, because they’d never let you get that far with whatever contraband they had found.

I don’t know how long the box has been there. Neither Joe nor I had ever seen it before, but I don’t know if that’s because it’s new or we just simply never noticed it before.

But based on maps I’ve found, it appears that at other airports, the Mailsafe Express boxes are where they belong, in the non-secure zone, so people who have been found to have contraband can have the opportunity to mail their stuff back to themselves.

• Austin
• Houston
• Portland

I’m not sure how someone at Mailsafe Express and/or MCO would think having a mailbox like that PAST security would be a good idea. I mean, if they catch your Encanto snowglobe, will a TSA officer escort you to the Mailsafe Express box to ensure you mail it to yourself? That just seems like a waste of personpower when they can have it PRE-security and make it a self-service option. But maybe someone will see this, and either (A) they can explain how it works in this setup or (B) it can be fixed.

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary