KAAMCO/GM March meetings round-up
New format: Kaamco first,
General Manager's follows.
BY JEFF YAPALATER
The March KAAMCO/JFK
GM meeting agenda included
a presentation by began with
a history of fuel by Jerry Biscardi,
VP of Allied Aviation,
reports from the FAA on the
runway construction, the New
Airport Operations Center
(AOC), KAAMCO annual trip
to Puerto Rico, safety reminders,
physical plant projects,
minimum wage reminder, security
office move to Building
141, PAPD hustler crackdown,
various department updates
and closing remarks by Deputy
GM Tony Vero.
Biscardi opened the meeting
with a presentation of aircraft
fueling, talked about the
fueling of aircraft, the history
of the procedures and
astounded the audience by
disclosing that 1.6 billions of
gallons of fuel is consumed
yearly by JFK aircraft. This
is an amazing 140,000 gallons
a day! He talked a bit about the
new tanks that will be built at
the airport adding another 3.5
million gallons each to meet
the growth of the airport.
And growth of the airport
is on KAAMCO’s mind. Roger
Scott, VP, announced that Arthur
Molins of Terminal One
Group Associates would be
the guest speaker in April discussing
the expansion of Terminal
One as part of the redevelopment
at JFK Airport.
From the FAA, during the
GM portion of the meeting,
Dave Siewert said that his
team is in the midst of operational
training in advance
of the planned construction
challenges as a result of a
visit by Port Executive Director
Rick Cotton and Port Aviation
Director Huntley Lawrence
and briefing by the JFK
redevelopment saying “we
have a thorough understanding
our mutual goals.”
Reports from the committees
included:
Security. AJ Patel reported
that the TSA had been focusing
on the catering facilities
around the airport for months.
CCTV cameras have been installed
for compliance reasons.
He added that the e-app is
working. Patel remarked that
some terminal security managers
and the Queens District
Attorney met to review the
hustler and homeless problems
at the airport.
4 AIRPORT VOICE, APRIL 2019
KAAMCO VP Roger Scott
gave the group an update on
the Annual Kaamco Convention
thanking the several
sponsors and reminded attendees
that the JetBlue a special
fare is still available.
The General Managers
portion of the meeting was
called to order by GM Charles
Everett giving a brief overview
of reports from various
Port departments, federal
agencies and other stakeholders:
Safety. Sajida Fhamy of
Safety spoke briefly about the
dangers of smoke and carbon
monoxide detectors and recommended
everyone check
their expiration dates.
Operations. Manager Teresa
Rizzuto addressed the
decision to move ahead with
the 13L31R runway construction
as of April 1st. She provided
an extensive presentation
on the delay, impact
mitigation strategy, community
communication and mutual
expectations to the member
airlines. She announced
that are nightly closures
moving forward in advance
of the major work. “Safe and
effective management of the
airport is most important
and will work very closely
with you”, Rizzuto said emphatically.
The most import
part; team effort.” To this
end, weekly calls among all
stakeholders will begin so
that the progress or issues
during construction are addressed
promptly.
The announced Airport
Operations Center (AOC) will
open April 1st. Rizzuto said
The AOC at Building 145” until
a combined build out of the
AOC and EOC in Building 111
sometime in early 2020. This
AOC will streamline efforts
to bring together stakeholders
land break down silos and
make sure our customers are
our main focus.”
She addressed the expectations
from both Port and the
community. There is also a
communications package including
social media handled
through the AOC. The AOC
will work as the daily heart of
the airport operation. If there
is a higher level alert then the
Emergency Operations Center
will take charge.
Rizzuto asked Roger Scott
to help discuss the airport
and Port expectations respectively.
Scott stated that
despite differing opinions
concerning the implementation
of the project he said that
there was, “ the most considerable
community participation
may have seen have seen
since my time here”. Rizzuto
thanked Scott for speaking on
behalf of the Kaamco community.
She strongly suggested
that airlines participate in the
weekly community construction
meetings to insure communication
and safe and effective
management.
Continued on page 37
Terminal One Executive Director Steve Rowland chats with GM Charles Everett.
Jerry Biscardi shares history of airport fueling.