New York’s JFK airport is about to become significantly more difficult to navigate
It’s common knowledge that getting to an airport in New York City involves navigating through notorious traffic jams. The ongoing construction has not helped the situation.
The massive gridlock that occurred while the “new” LaGuardia airport was being constructed is still vivid in the minds of many New Yorkers and tourists. At that time, people were frantically getting out of their cars on highways and rushing to catch flights on foot.
As the John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York undergoes its own makeover, officials there claim that they do remember that disastrous traffic jam and are working to prevent a repetition, notes AFAR.
“We aren’t waiting to react to problems, we are working to get ahead of them,” Rick Cotton, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates both JFK and LaGuardia said in a statement. “We are applying lessons learned from [LaGuardia] to minimize as much as possible any inconvenience to passengers at JFK.”
A massive $19 billion overhaul of the airport is set to begin this month (LaGuardia’s cost was only $8 billion, for comparison). This may cause some disruptions to airport operations in the coming weeks. Despite the airport’s best efforts over its 75-year history, “one unified Kennedy Airport” has eluded its planners. Instead of the current six terminals, there will be four, with the new complexes located at either end of the airport.
Major international airlines report that bookings and demand are at or near pre-pandemic levels for the peak summer 2023 travel season, coinciding with the beginning of the construction project. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a warning that there will be a shortage of air traffic controllers in the New York area.
Airport terminals 3 and 6, originally constructed by Pan Am and National Airlines, respectively, were demolished more than a decade ago, leaving JFK with a (sometimes confusing) set of six terminals, numbered 1 through 8.
JFK is still served by 70 airlines and is anticipated to receive more than 60 million passengers this year, despite being outsized by international hubs like Beijing and Dubai, notes AFAR.
Terminals 2 and 7 (previously occupied by Delta Air Lines and British Airways, respectively) will be destroyed as part of the ambitious and expensive project known as “A New JFK.” Additionally, a brand-new Terminal 1 will be built on the south side of JFK for significant tenants like Air France, Lufthansa, and JAL. This terminal will eventually be connected to an expanded Terminal 4, which will house Delta and a large number of international airlines.
A new Terminal 6 will be built next to JetBlue Airways’ Terminal 5 base at the opposite end of the airport. American Airlines’ newly expanded Terminal 8 space now offers access to flights on British Airways, as well as the latter’s exclusive lounges.
JFK’s AirTrain, a light-rail connector that connects the terminals, parking lots, rental car area, and the New York City subway and Long Island Railroad lines, has closed the Terminal 1 station for the next seven months; instead, a shuttle bus will transport passengers to and from Terminal 4 and Terminal 8, where they can catch the AirTrain. This is just one of the transit disturbances.
Furthermore, some roads are being rerouted around the primary construction sites, resulting in new traffic patterns that drivers might not be accustomed to.
Evie Blanco is a journalist with nearly a decade of experience born in the Dominican Republic and raised in Queens, New York. She is extremely well-versed in hip-hop music and culture and is always aware of its developments. Whether it’s the latest in pop culture, a fascinating foreign destination, a truly amazing new restaurant, or breaking news, she loves to write about it all. Evie can be reached at evieblanco@detourxp.com
This story was originally published May 26, 2023 at 11:55 AM with the headline "New York’s JFK airport is about to become significantly more difficult to navigate."