Philadelphia has the worst-rated large airport in America. This is the airport that encourages restaurants and shops to charge passengers 3% more than posted prices.
There have been birds in the Admirals Club to a raccoon stealing candy, American Airlines employees have dubbed their hub “Filthadelphia”.
In fact one American Airlines employee confronted then-President Robert Isom about conditions there:
When they walk in and they see a chair with filth… maggots at the gate.. we have roaches in the break room.. You have ConciergeKeys coming out of a $100,000 Escalade up onto a jet bridge with feces and dirt. The floors are never cleaned… the bathrooms, I’d like to take you on a tour of the lady’s room.. a lot of it is the city cleaners sleeping instead of cleaning.
Since American Express made quite a bit of news over its Atlanta Centurion lounge failing a health inspection (after coming close to a fail a couple of times before that) and since I’ve covered multiple inspection fails at the Chicago O’Hare Delta Sky Club, it seemed worth noting that the B/C Admirals Club in Filthadelphia has been found inadequate even by the standards of that airport by the health department.
Here are a few of the violations,
- hazardous foods kept above 60 degrees, cut fruit in the storage room refrigerator was.. undated, “insecticides (fly trap) not labeled by the manufacturer for food facility usage, in the small food prep area near the buffet area.”
- “can opener had an accumulation of food residue on the food contact surfaces” “Knives and / or cleavers stored between table edges which are not easily cleaned and sanitized.”
- “Visible physical evidence of insect activity (roaches and flies) observed in the food prep area. Visible physical evidence of insect activity (flies) observed in the bar area.”
This one really struck me though – what on earth are they doing with raw chicken in a lounge that lacks cooking equipment for meat? (Update: I understand there’s some dispute about whether the chicken was actually raw.)
Violation of Code: [46.281] Boxes of raw chicken were stored next to containers of boiled eggs and produce in the walk in cooler rather than below or away from.
Unnapproved foods should be removed from the facility. This facility does not have cooking equipment for the preparation of raw animal derived meats. New Violation.
It appears these issues were written up in August, though they’re just now coming to light. Fortunately this club’s kitchen is undergoing renovation and it does seem as though those things could be connected – or at least they’re a fortunate coincidence.
According to an American Airlines spokesperson,
Taking care of our customers is our main priority. We took immediate action upon receiving the inspection report from our Philadelphia International Airport Admirals Club in Terminal B/C. We’ve been working closely with our lounge partners and the Philadelphia Department of Health to address the results of the inspection and to inform our current and future processes.
Now the rest of the airport just needs to be demolished so they can start over. When the A West Admirals Club re-opens you should still go there instead. It’ll be in the airline’s new lounge design template, rather than the B/C Club which remains a US Airways Special.
