Airlines would be the primary financiers of a $13 billion
plan to redevelop New York's JFK Airport.
But while advocates touted the plan for the improvements it
would provide to JFK's terminals, taxiways and roadways, critics said it fails
to address the fundamental capacity constraints at the airport, which are
caused by lack of runway space and congested skies.
Critics contend it also doesn't do enough to improve public
transit.
The plan, unveiled early this month by New York governor
Andrew Cuomo, would increase gate capacity at JFK by 15 million passengers per
year while modernizing and consolidating airport terminals. The project must
get approval from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey before it can
go forward.
Tentative plans call for construction to begin in 2020, with
the first gate openings in 2023 and project completion in 2025.
The proposal builds upon the redevelopment vision for JFK
that Cuomo put forward in January 2017. However, the price has already jumped
from the $9 billion cited by Cuomo then to the new estimate of $13 billion.
Under the proposal, the airport's six disconnected terminals
would be consolidated into three. A $7.9 billion, 23-gate, south terminal would
be developed by a consortium of Lufthansa, Air France, Japan Airlines and
Korean Air Lines. That terminal would replace JFK's terminals 1 and 2 and be
connected to the existing Terminal 4.
On the north side of the airport, JetBlue would lead the
development of a $3 billion, 12-gate international terminal. The facility would
replace the existing Terminal 7 and be connected to JetBlue's existing Terminal
5. Terminal 8, JFK's largest passenger facility, wouldn't be impacted under the
proposal.
The plan also calls for modernizing terminal amenities,
improvements to highways leading to the airport, a simplification of the
intra-airport road network and aircraft taxiway expansion. There would also be
a 50% expansion in capacity for the Kennedy AirTrain, though travelers from
Manhattan still wouldn't have one-train access to the airport.
In a statement, Tom Wright, CEO of the Regional Plan
Association, a nonprofit that advocates for public works projects in the New
York metropolitan area, said the redevelopment plan is an important step.
"Rebuilding and modernizing JFK's terminals, gates,
taxiways and roads will add capacity and make JFK a more attractive destination
for travelers," Wright said. "As passenger volumes grow as a result
of these investments, the airport can create a virtuous cycle by harnessing
this growth to finance other critical investments, including transit access and
additional runways."
Runway space does remain a major problem at JFK. The number
of daily departure and landing rights at the airport, known as slots, is capped
due to congestion on the runways and in the skies. In fact, JFK is the only
airport in the U.S. that is designated as Level 3 slot-coordinated, which is
the highest capacity constraint designation in the international commercial
aviation market.
The lack of operational maneuverability at JFK is one reason
Bureau of Transportation data shows that it ranked 26th out of the 30 largest
U.S. airports in 2017 for on-time departures.
Crowded skies across the Northeast corridor also fuel high
late-departure figures at JFK, New York LaGuardia, Newark, Philadelphia and
Boston.
Airline industry analysts Bob Mann and Gary Leff both said
the JFK renovation should focus more sharply on moving people to and through
the airport efficiently.
"I don't want to spend any more time there than I have
to," said Mann, who runs the consultancy R.W. Mann and Co. "The idea
of providing a Tiffany's or a Shake Shack or any of these things that are in
the wonderful new plans doesn't do a thing for me."
Those high-end concessions, noted Leff, who writes the View
From the Wing blog, are one way the Port Authority can boost future payments to
private financiers of the project. But terminal redevelopment won't address JFK's
main shortfalls.
"JFK's big problems are not primarily the terminals,"
Leff said. "The terminals are largely fine. The biggest problem is that
there is not good public transit in and out of the city."