Business Continuity

Today I arrived in Buenos Aires and am witnessing first hand the manner in which authorities in this country are responding to incoming visitors from one of the epicenters of the Influenza A (H1N1) virus outbreak: New York City. Stated simply, it’s not a pretty sight.

Passengers trying the disembark from our plane after a very long, eleven-hour flight were stopped by approximately one dozen Argentine health representatives, all of whom were wearing medical masks. We were informed that before people could leave the jet, they had to first declare on a paper form whether or not we were feeling ill. As a result, passengers quite unexpectedly had to find a spot where they could find pens (none provided) and flat surfaces to be able to fill out these forms. The jetway soon took on the appearance of scores of people in the post office at 9:00 PM on April 14th trying to complete and file their taxes before midnight.

Once one was able to finally leave the airport, the masks were gone, life seemed normal and the exquisite beauty of this city and country could finally be enjoyed.