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AIRPORT V 2 OICE, FEBRUARY 2021
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Jeff Yapalater
516-425-4645
KAAMCO meeting covered
masks, port fees, vaccines
Revival of committee reports & energized agenda envisioned
BY JEFF YAPALATER
JFK Airport KAAMCO
held it second virtual meeting
of the year. President
Roger Scott began the meeting
with spirited enthusiasm telling
the Zoom attendees that
Kaamco intends to get its subcommittees
back on track and
begin to report in upcoming
meeting with an announcement
by Cargo Committee
Chair Brian Cooley who said
their first virtual meeting will
be announced shortly.
Scott made reference to the
recent winter storm Orlena
and mentioned some of the
bumps in the road, literally,
with snow removal difficult at
times. But, VP Mark Flug gave
kudos to Aeronautical Manager
John Arancio for the excellent
work through the EOC,
and keeping all the stakeholders
sell informed of all the efforts
in keeping the report
open and manageable during
the snows of the most intense
storm in years.
Scott touched on the mask
mandate saying it was a good
move to have an official mandate
so that it would be easier to
get compliance from everyone.
To that point, there have
been security directives from
TSA and the airport, which
make it illegal not to war a
mask. If workers or passengers,
at the airport or on an
airplane fail to wear a mask,
they can be subject to a fine.
If an airport worker has multiple
offenses, they may well
lose their security badge. So,
these directives are made to
insure compliance at the risk
of fines or dismissal. The mandates
are for any form of public
transportation, so no one
on a bus, AirTrain, mass transit
hub, LIRR, MTA airport ,
airplane etc, wearing a mask
is a must. Must Mask.
The recent financial woes
of the airline industry continue
to be impacted by additional
airport fees and recent
NYS legislative act to provide
insurance to eligible workers.
Scott said he is looking into
these matters and will have a
representative from NYALO
to discuss port fees at the next
meeting on March. 10th.
The initial and subsequent
CARES Act funding to airports
is another topic that will
be discussed with the members.
In terms of airport fees,
GM Everett said Port is open
to conversations and when
there are changes the stakeholders
would be informed.
The state of vaccines availability
was brought up by.
Scott said that he wondered
if there would be an airport
based vaccine center. He
noted the difficulty of getting
an appointment at the centers
around the city stating that an
airport vaccine center would
be helpful. Currently the NYC
HHC has a testing facility at
JFK and LGA airports. Questions
arose as to why these
couldn’t be used as vaccines
sites as well. To date there has
not been any definite plan.
Vice-President Mark
Flug announced that the
Kaamco Golf event is being
planned for the third quarter
and asked all to keep eyes
out for the date and details. He
mentioned the need for members
to return the Interline
sigh-up stressing the need for
a consensus approving the
amendment or facing much
higher charges for the service
through Airway. He also gave
a shout out to Port for their excellent
communications during
winter storm Orlena.
Treasurer Aldo Garcia
was happy to report that almost
all refunds have been
made for the cancelled 2020
Kaamco Convention. There
are hopes that Kaamco wil be
able to have the convention
later this year.
Secretary Junior reported
that paid 2020 dues can be
rolled over into 2021 due to the
pandemic. Membership forms
and payments for 2021 can be
emailed to him.
Cargo Committee Chair
Brian Cooley discussed several
items: the new CBP directive
that states that brokers
are required for importing of
all animals for sale. Post Office
functioning well; there
are trucking congestion prototypes
will be unveiled soon;
the cargo committee is planning
to meet virtually later
this month; there have been
vaccine shipments this past
might providing much needed
health assistance.
Save the Date: Pastor Dabbee
announced that the Bishop
Wright luncheon would be virtual
this year. On Wed. April
21. Entries for the Susan Baer
Scholarship are due in to the
Pastor by March 15th.
Adams Medical, sister
of Adams Health Services, is
providing disinfection services
To the airport. According
to Egemen Kocak, they only
use Bioprotect products which
are ecofriendly and very effective.
He said that an area can
be cleansed 2x within 30 minutes
making this service effective
and quickly administered
to terminal and office areas.
Adams Heath Services is
located at Terminal One offering
both Rapid and PCR testing
in under 3 hours making
it an important resource for
travelers who need a test before
a flight.
New KAAMCO member
Miriam Sta Ana who represents
the new Marriotts being
built and completed this summer,
was welcomed.
Emotional NYCAR Jan. meeting
Lack of PA response troubing
The January 27th virtual
meeting of the New
York Community Aviation
Roundtable (NYCAR)
started the year off with
a video presentation from
the FAA, anger over Port’s
lack of response and resolution,
and a call for less
planes in the sky and a call
for rewriting past of the bylaws.
Co-Chair Warren Schreiber
stated that many
members re not attending
the quarterly LGA and
JFK meetings so he announced
that the executive
Board will be looking in the
by-laws and determine how
to change members , adjust
the quorum ad adjust the
number and types of meetings
for better attendance
and involvement.
One active member
however, member Larry
Hoppenhauer, Legislative
sub-committee Chair,
made an issue about the
ongoing lack of response
from Port Authority to repetitive
questions on long
term studies such as part
150.. He angrily denounced
the lack or reasonable response
and the time lag in
these responses. “I am disappointed
and insulted by
the comments as Director
of Airports. We have been
asking for answers and we
get various excuses.
Continued on page 5