New York JFK Airport

[swaugh3]

The new Terminal 5 will have Arrivals and Departures Levels, so what will the former TWA Flight Center be used for?

[Taylorhoge]

A resturant

[Jizzy]

I wish to go to NYC, preferably arriving at JFK because of convenience in location. However, I've heard that the airport is very difficult to get around as things aren't signposted that well, and the staff there are perhaps more rude than those from other wellknown airports such as LAX and Heathrow. I just like to know though..is there like a virtual tour that's available on the network showing JFK when I get there? It'll be a new experience for me because this would be the first time I ever flew on my own, the last time I flew was when I was a kid and that was to India 20 years ago!

[Jizzy]

Also, I don't quite get it..London Heathrow has just 5 Terminals, JFK has nearly doubled that..yet the former handles more passengers than the latter. How does that work?

[GrigorisSokratis]

Originally Posted by Jizzy

Also, I don't quite get it..London Heathrow has just 5 Terminals, JFK has nearly doubled that..yet the former handles more passengers than the latter. How does that work?

NY and London have both the same passengers traffic size, both have the most crowded urban air spaces in the world.

However LHR is more dense (larger in traffic smaller in size) than JFK. Moreover, the proportion of passengers using Heathrow instead of Gatwick or Luton is bigger than the ratio of those using JFK instead of Newark and La Guardia, that's it. IMO things are better organized in NY than London regarding airport services, not to mention that LHR is really overcrowded and uncomfortable in comparison with JFK.

[Geborgenheit]

Originally Posted by GrigorisSokratis

not to mention that LHR is really overcrowded and uncomfortable in comparison with JFK.

Yeah, JFK looks pretty relaxed. I'm surprised, that it isn't very overcrowded.

[Jizzy]

This is surprising, I've read reviews of JFK airport and alot of people say that the immigration staff there are among the worst in the world, even moreso than LAX.

Still, I like to consider the other option of coming in and leaving via Newark. But I don't know how to get to/from NYC from this airport, sounds alot more complicated than JFK.

[kenersej]

I arrived at JFk here in may 2008 at 22:00 PM ca.
and we just got in the line for a "yellow cab" and were divin to our hotel.

WHAT A GREAT EXPERIENCE!!

[hkskyline]

Originally Posted by Jizzy

This is surprising, I've read reviews of JFK airport and alot of people say that the immigration staff there are among the worst in the world, even moreso than LAX.

Still, I like to consider the other option of coming in and leaving via Newark. But I don't know how to get to/from NYC from this airport, sounds alot more complicated than JFK.

I've gone through JFK immigration before, and I have never encountered such rude staff, and you know you can't give the attitude back because they have too much power and can detain you for a while even if all the paperwork is in order. Luckily they weren't yelling at me at all, but I saw one of them yell and yank an incoming passenger aside as I waited.

[swaugh3]

Terminal 5 is now open according to JetBlue and The Port Authority's JFK websites. Here is the Travel Alert from JetBlue's website.

[santobonao]

Jetblue airways open a brand new terminal at jfk and its very nice terminal and even doesn't look like an Jfk terminals.

[hkskyline]

JetBlue's New T5 Terminal At JFK Airport
The new terminal at JFK will more than double Jet Blue's capacity, adding 26 gates in a 640,000-square-foot facility.
20 October 2008
Constructioneer

The new JetBlue terminal at John F. Kennedy International (JFK) Airport in New York will unfold a modern new terminal to extend an era in air transportation. At its front door will be the iconic TWA terminal, which opened in 1962 and personified the adventure and advancement of air travel throughout the world.

The TWA terminal was the product of Eero Saarinen, the Finnish architect whose portfolio includes the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and the main terminal at Dulles International Airport outside of Washington, DC. The TWA terminal achieved eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places less than 50 years after its construction and stands as a classic example of the modernist movement in architecture. Despite the landmark's legendary gull-wing arches being removed, its existing tubes will be preserved and allow pass-through to the new T5 Terminal being constructed.

In the early stages of planning for the project, the airport layout plan would retain much of the historic TWA terminal, but the building would lose its "flight wings" where the gates are located. The building would be isolated from the airfield and would not be used as a passenger terminal. Constructing the new terminal around the original, landmark building was one of the project's biggest challenges.

Because of the historic significance of the TWA building, historic and preservation associations were consulting parties to the development. These included The Municipal Art Society of New York, The New York State Historic Preservation Office, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the New York Landmarks Conservancy, the Municipal Art Society of New York, and Documentation and Conservation of Buildings, Sites, and Neighborhoods of the Modern Movement.

Work commenced on the project in December 2005, with an anticipated substantial completion and first flight date scheduled for October 2008. Final completion is expected by the end of first quarter 2009. New York-based Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) is the program manager for the construction of the new terminal that, according to Charles VanCook, PB's principal-in-charge for the project, required that JetBlue's design and construction team be clever in complementing the existing TWA landmark in both functionality and aesthetics. They "had to also be extremely careful not to do any damage," adds Van Cook.

The PB on-site team worked together with PB's subconsultant, ProjectConsult. The collaborative effort required that they direct resources optimally and track scores of contract packages while identifying critical pathways to deliver the project timeline.

The Terminal T5 Redevelopment Program consists of the construction of the new 640,000-square-foot terminal building with 26 gates, terminal access roads, airfield construction including hydrant fueling, a 1,500-space parking garage, and an elevated passenger connector to the existing AirTrain station. The new terminal will accommodate up to 250 flights daily.

"The project has five principal elements," explains Dana Martinez of ProjectConsult, the program manager and consultant to the program. These include the new terminal building, airside civil development, landside civil development, parking garage development, and the Terminal 5 skywalk.

"The terminal was built on an existing terminal site with active air operations on both sides, Terminal 4 to the south, and JetBlue's existing operation — Terminal 6, to the north," explains Chiri Fitzpatrick, a senior scheduler with Parsons Brinckeroff.

"The terminal development will occur at the location of the existing Terminal 5 and will also involve limited work relating to the historic TWA terminal building," explains Martinez, "including the demolition of the existing flight wings, and incorporation of the existing tubes to connect the historic building to the new terminal."

The terminal building itself will include a 26-gate concourse, an arrivals hall located at-grade, a second floor departures hall, a baggage systems and 20-lane security checkpoint, and the associated retail, ticketing and back office space for the airline.

"The airside development work includes the demolition of existing flight wings and out buildings, and the construction of new airfield paving to accommodate the new terminal alignment and JetBlue operations," says Martinez. "Also included are new civil utilities [to include new site drainage], the removal of existing hydrant fueling pipes, the installation of a new hydrant fueling system, and the associated electrical and communication work."

The landside development work includes the construction of new at-grade arrivals roadways and new elevated departures roadways. Also included are the construction of new utilities connected to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey infrastructure, which includes chilled water, TDS hot water, drainage, sanitary and sewer, water, electrical, and communications.

"The new roadway system will be constructed behind the existing Saarinen building with the at-grade roads passing under the existing Saarinen 'tubes,'" adds Martinez. "Elevated roadways include a precast section, which also serves as the roof to the arrivals hall and structural steel with cast-in-place deck. Additionally the north ramp is a Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) wall system."

Terminal 5's skywalk is an elevated connector from the new terminal to the existing AirTrain station. This connector is three stories above grade and has long span steel trusses. The terminal will also have six moving walkways.

According to Martinez, the "yellow" parking garage utilized a design-build contract. The garage is a six-story structure that can accommodate 1,500 vehicles. Its construction is considered to be hybrid, consisting of structural steel columns and beams, a precast double 'T' deck, and precast concrete spandrel beams. A pedestrian connector will connect passengers from the existing AirTrain station to the garage.

According to Chiri Fitzpatrick, JetBlue had constructed a temporary concourse to the east of the new terminal to accommodate operations until T6 was completed. "Because of this, the terminal and associated airside work was constructed in two phases," says Fitzpatrick. "Phase 1 included all demolition, all landside development, all terminal construction, with the exception of the installation of six passenger boarding bridges, all work on the yellow garage, all work on the sky walk, and work at the airside not impeded by JetBlue's current operation at Terminal T6."

Phase 2 work included the demolition of the temporary concourse, and the relocation and installation of six passenger boarding bridges from the temporary concourse at the new terminal. Phase 2 also included the completion of a hydrant fuel system and apron paving at the north end of the concourse.

Says Charles VanCook of Parsons Brinckeroff, "The greatest challenge is the eternal one in program management — to keep the program on schedule and under budget, and that challenge has been met thus far with resounding success."

[f.e.s.b.r.]

the 4th one looks like dallas fw...
i loved that airport..

and the 9th is just for the AA???
that would be amazing to go to jfk ....

[Westsidelife]

The new Terminal 5 is nice, though I think they could've done a lot more with it. It looks like it underwent a major refurbishment rather than having been constructed from scratch.

[MrColombia]

This does not pertain to JFK but i didnt want to open up a new Thread for this.

Southwest to buy LaGuardia landing slots

Southwest Airlines

(Dallas) has agreed to pay $7.5 million for bankrupt ATA Airlines’ landing slots at New York’s LaGuardia Airport. The deal would include 14 slots, enough to operate 7 flights per day. The deal is subject to approval by the court handling ATA’s bankruptcy filing. If approved, Southwest expects to start flying from LaGuardia sometime next year.

[pi_malejana]

so what will southwest do with MacArthur (Long Island)?? i think they have at least 3 flights/day here, i'm not sure though...

[MrColombia]

Originally Posted by pi_malejana

so what will southwest do with MacArthur (Long Island)?? i think they have at least 3 flights/day here, i'm not sure though...

Depends on how the LaGuardia Market responds.

[MrColombia]

FAA advances NYC-area airport slot auctions plan

www.yahoo.com (business)

ATLANTA – The Federal Aviation Administration told airlines on Thursday it is moving forward with plans to auction some of the carriers' takeoff and landing slots at three New York City-area airports.

The FAA said that in 3 1/2 weeks it will begin the process that airlines argue could lead to cancellations and be devastating to an industry already under pressure from weakening demand for seats.

A list of all available slots at John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport and Newark (N.J.) Liberty International Airport on which auction participants may bid will be posted online on Dec. 29, according to the FAA Web site. The agency plans to conduct the three auctions over the Internet on Jan. 12. A mock auction will be held Jan. 8.

The Government Accountability Office said in a Sept. 30 legal opinion that U.S. aviation officials have no legal authority to auction off takeoff and landing slots at airports, a scheme the government devised to try to curb crippling traffic jams at major airports. Days later, the Justice Department asserted the FAA does have the authority.

And the FAA is moving forward, holding a meeting in Washington on Thursday to explain the process to representatives of the airlines. Lee Moak, head of Delta Air Lines Inc.'s pilots union, attended the meeting, saying afterward he was concerned court intervention the carriers have been seeking would not come in time to block the FAA's plans.

"They haven't thought through the practical effect at all," Moak said of the FAA. "Not to mention the airlines are losing money, they're not profitable and this is the last thing anybody needs."

Atlanta-based Delta, the world's biggest carrier, and some other airlines have already loaded their schedules for flights into and out of those three airports through the first half of next year.

"The outcome of what the FAA is doing is they're going to confiscate slots, which are flights from tickets we have already sold into the spring," Moak said. "So, their actions could result in flight cancellations."

FAA spokeswoman Lynne Tierney said, "We understand it's controversial and we've had very thoughtful conversations today. This is an attempt to address congestion in very crowded markets."

Transportation Secretary Mary Peters proposed the auction plan after widespread complaints last year about rampant flight delays across the country. The government says two out of three flights delayed 15 minutes or more were due to cascading backups beginning at one of the New York metropolitan area's three airports: Newark, JFK and LaGuardia.

Trying to fix the problem, the government imposed new limits on the airports and announced plans to auction off some takeoff and landing slots to control the crushing demand for time and space. By auctioning slots, the government reasons, market forces will help restrain such demand and make the system operate more efficiently.

Opponents sued.

Airlines and airports contend the auction proposal will add new costs and make a mess of day-to-day airport operations.

Moak said that based on a formula outlined by the government for determining whose slots will be auctioned off, it appears that only U.S. carriers would be affected, which he asserted is unfair since foreign carriers would be allowed to bid on those slots.

Houston-based Continental Airlines Inc. said the auctions wouldn't solve the problem of congestion at New York-area airports — the carrier has a major hub at Newark.

Continental spokeswoman Julie King said Thursday that instead of allocating money and personnel to improve the air traffic control system, "the administration proposes to raise more money by taking away airline slots and selling them to the highest bidder. Obviously, that plan won't reduce delays. It will simply mean that delays will continue but passengers will pay higher fares and smaller cities will lose access to New York."

But the FAA says on its Web site that the slot auctions are designed to encourage more efficient airline behavior, help alleviate congestion, and allow access to a small number of new entrants. It said the agency plans to use the proceeds from the auctions to mitigate congestion and delay in the New York City area.

David Castelveter, a spokesman for the Air Transport Association, a trade group for carriers, called the auction plan an "ideological experiment which has been disguised as a means of reducing congestion and increasing competition." He said "this ill-conceived scheme will do neither."

[santobonao]

Originally Posted by pi_malejana

so what will southwest do with MacArthur (Long Island)?? i think they have at least 3 flights/day here, i'm not sure though...

SWA have about 20 flights daily from ISP.

[santobonao]

happy new year