KAAMCO February meeting
Airport construction big issue
The JFK Airport Stakeholders
meetings were the
key subject at the February
KAAMCO meeting. KLM Station
Manager Ajay Dhawan
gave a detailed description
of the -=weekly stakeholders
meetings of which he is a
member of all the groups.
Dhawan ,also President of
TFAC, is a long standing advocate
of airlines matters and
hav9ing been working at JFK
for decades is an expert on
terminal, airline and stakeholders
concerns.
The Stakeholders Groups
were created by the JFK General
Manager’s office to share
stakeholders ideas, and concerns
with the JFK redevelopment
team which is seeking
collaboration from stakeholders
as well as passenger and
employee impact.
Ajay Dhawan reported on
the current discussions and
concerns having been discussed
at the recent meetings.
He shared details on the
upcoming garage closures.
The Green garage at Terminal
will be closing in April,
slated for demolition following
that, the T4 Blue garage
will be closing in May and
the &5 Yellow will follow soon
thereafter.
He said that there will ultimately
be a shortage of parking
spaces for all cars at the
airport throughout most of
the construction. Conversations
with the Parking and
Traffic groups, there are
many different ideas of how
best to handle this. Additional
bus service will handle
this change of parking
availability in addition to pedestrian
walkways to be constructed
for movements from
one terminal to another. The
AirTrain stations will also
undergo some shutdowns,
and the airport roadways
will undergo some pattern
changes so the combined reduction
in service is an important
matter that both the
Port and the groups are working
hard to find good solutions.
JFK transformation As
JFK undergoes transformation,
the Van Wyck Expressway
is planned for construction
for another lane which
would require the deconstruction
or modifying more
than a dozen bridges. This is
a prime roadway for freight
32 AIRPORT VOICE, MARCH 2020
trucking, taxis and passenger
traffic. Unfortunately this
road is under the auspices of
the New York State Department
of Transportation who
Dhawan said is collaborating
with JFK Airport for workable
solution.
A major concern by the
airlines and terminals is the
wheelchair use. It was stated
that there are approximately
100,000 wheelchair uses
monthly at the airport. Some
group members were questioning
how these people would be
moved from roadside to terminal
and from terminal to
terminal with the use of the
Airtrain.
Questions arouse at the
Minimum connecting time
for passengers. Confronted
by all the road and drip of
changes how would this impact
the arriving passengers
who may not be prepared for
alternate parking or inner
airport transportation.
From a temporary airline
positioning away from the
gate, called hard stand, some
saw problems with aircraft
movement and fueling during
construction around the
airport. Special attention was
given to bad weather, deicing,
delays and passenger impact
while new gates and terminals
are being built. Questions
about costs for additional
equipment where and
when deployed are in discussion.
KAAMCO srong. T4 Roel Huinink, Cathay Pacific Jim Groark, Global Elite Finney Kurian, The Ark, Mike Falacara
Airtrain reduction of services
will require coordination
wit the NYC MTA to provide
more and more schedule
buses to move airport workers
while the airport construction
is under way.
Overall airport security
is under discussion with
thoughts on AOA access, and
contractor worker access as
well as areas required for the
annual United nations General
Assembly=y needs.
Dhawan explained that the
Communications group’s mission
is to gather the reports,
ideas and concerns from the
groups’ meetings and present
to the Port Redevelopment
team as well as to recommend
a strategy for sharing construction
plans and workarounds
during the next five
years of redevelopment.
He asked that if anyone had
questions to please email him
and he would do his best to answer.
The balance of the meeting
consisted of reports from
various committees. From the
operations committee, Grund
Ops Committee Julie Emond
reported that the Post Office
operations were improving.
The question was whether it
was because of the reduction
of e-commerce mail or simply
a slowdown after the holidays.
The Foreign Object Debris
(FOD) concerns have been an
issue for years, and there are
continue efforts to mitigate
the problem. She also reported
that the General Manager had
sent out a detail letter to stakeholders
warning of equipment
removal by the Port if abandoned
ground handling or airline
property is left in one spot
for a long length of time.
Additional reports.
From the Security committee,
Jim Bliku reported that
the long waits at the badging
office have been reduced
greatly. There are some issue
regarding people who
are double scheduling and
missing appointments but
overall the badging procedure
is much smoother that
in recent months during the
software system changeover.
Bliku also reported that the
TSA is allowing their workers
to wear protective masks
if the workers want to do
that. Wearing of the mask is
not mandatory but voluntary
based on individual preference.
The Interline contract was
also mentioned as the contract
is ending in two years. It
was reported that the current
contract holder would absorb
the upgrades to the new baggage
scanners in return for
extending the contract. This
is typical in the airport business
where contract renewals
are in play.
From the Cargo Committee
Phil Jensen commented
on the continuing problem of
equipment left lying around
the airport by saying that the
Port will tow equipment away
at some point and there will
be fees paid to get the equipment
back. He mentioned that
the corona virus seems not
to be a factor in cargo since
it appears that the virus dies
quickly in the cold and most
cargo workers are dealing
with objects not people. He reminded
people that the JFK
Air Cargo Association EXPO
is coming up on March 26th at
Russo’s on the Bay
Brief announcements included:
Secretary of Kaamco,
Mark Flug reminded members
of the upcoming Kaamco
Convention on April- to be
held in Panama with discount
airfare from Copa Airlines
that need reservations
to be made by March 13th;
Hedvig Zsingor informed
members that Kaamco has
invited LaGuardia’s Laamco
to come to the next meeting
and mix with the Kaamco
members; Cathay Pacific Jim
Groark informed the group
that due to the Corona Virus,
Cathay has reduced its
passenger flights to China
by 75%, He thanked all for
their understanding and
support. He also mentioned
that British Airways would
be joining Cathay in Terminal
8 when the construction
is done; Diane Vega of the
AA Credit Union announced
that the Union at JFK to help
members of the airport on
all financial matters, loan
and financing. Pastor Dabee
reminded everyone that annual
Bishop Wright Aviation
Luncheon and Yolan DePhlilips
Scholarship Award ( entry
deadline is March 7) Is
April 1st, no kidding, and
held at Russo’s n the Bay; Bill
Huisman of the Community
Watch Program and Aviation
Development Office is
working with Queens’s businesses
to take advantage of
the job opportunities at JFK
redevelopment. They have
regular hours of consultation
at the Jamaica Community
Redevelopment Office;
the Rotary Club announced
their annual Runway Run on
April and asked everyone to
sign up early for the=is anKLM
Ajay Dhawan nul fun event.