Getting back in the air
Port, terminals and airlines prepare for increased flights
8 AIRPORT VOICE, JUNE 2020
Safety and health are main factors
BY JEFF YAPALATER
There are diverse opinions over
how and when people will go back to
flying. Whatever the time frame, humans
love to travel.
The development of both Newark
and LaGuardia airports continue, and
plans are still in place for JFK Airport
redevelopment which has been
on pause until the impact of Covid has
lessened, yet the Governor is bullish
on the future of aviation, terminal development
and the passenger desire to
fly.
saying, “It’s not a matter of if but
when.
Port Executive Director Rick Cotton
said that investors are putting”
their money where their mouth is”.
So the aviation world, literally the
world, is working on plans for increasing
international flights initially in
June then adding incrementally in
July and August of this year.
The one bright and economic engine
at the airports has been air cargo.
While passengers remained sidelined,
millions of tons of medial supplies
and safety equipment were shipped to
the airports. 747 cargo freighters flew
several flights daily into the airport
handled by freight brokers and forwarders,
WFS, dnata, AGI, Lufthansa,
American regularly with other airline
participating on a less regular basis.
All told these shipments supplied
necessary Covid related necessities to
states throughout the U.S.A.
As of June, these shipments have
lessened but the regular cargo shipments
from around the world, and especially
China are growing to meet the
demand of people slowly returning to a
new normal life and buying again.
Of critical importance to aviation
companies is the health and safety of
everyone in contact with the airports.
Hygiene is the top of the list with all
parties doing their part. Continued
mask wearing at the airport and in
planes, social distancing, washing
hands and not touching face nor eyes,
are some of the standard ways to protect
against the virus. Each stakeholder
in the airports has their own
way of meeting these safety and hygiene
standards although everyone is
talking with each other, the Port, getting
feedback from Airline for America,
IATA, other aviation companies,
federal agencies and airline companies
around the world. All have instituted
safety programs and more are
developing more effective ones. There
will be a common adherence to basic
requirements but each airline will
make its own rules for passenger and
staff. These decisions by airlines in
particular will likely impact their decisions
as how they will market their
flights and safety to the public, and
create a wide choice of preferences for
flyers.
Aviation Director Huntley Lawrence
praises the state of the art disinfecting
measure in place. He said that
Port is actively working with its other
airports, airlines and terminals in
protecting the passenger and worker
at these facilities.
He said, “We have airport task
forces and a plan we have laid out that
we have conferred and consulted with
everyone working with each of the terminal
operators on the plan. I speak
with my airport managers several
times a week reviewing these procedures.”
He added, “We look forward
to get traffic and more important winning
our customers back letting them
know our facilities are safe, our employees
are safe.”
Terminals are the airports are
the home to the airlines, and are the
first part of the journey by passengers.
They are spending large sums
of money creating safety and health
procedures for their passengers and
workers. Both Termonal 4 nd Terminal
One issue periodic newsletters
with oertinent information on terminal
improvements, new ways to protect
passengers and workers and passenger
tips for better flying.
Terminal 4
Roel Huinink is the CEO of JFKIAT,
Terminal 4, JFK Airport. His terminal
has the most flights both internationally
and domestically of all the terminals
at the airport.
This terminal, like all others, has
been hit hard by the sudden and drastic
drop of flights and passenger travel.
Due to federal government flight restrictions,
state isolation restrictions,
actual illnesses, unemployment and
general avoidance of flying has led to
a trickle of flights in April and May.
In May 2029 TSA reported almost 1
million departing passengers while
on close to 40,000 in 2020; internationally
CBP reported there were almost
25,000 in May 2019 compared to 1,000
in May 2020. Huinink is working hard
to upgrade the physical aspects of the
terminal to increase level of hygiene
he believes is necessary to instill
confidence to the flyer. According to
Huinink there are five areas that he
and his team are working on: Hygiene
& Sanitization, Health & Well Being,
Social Distancing, Transactions and
Communications. After months of review
current recovery initiatives include
Plexiglass shield enclosures Covid
testing, sanitizing wipes stations,
Social distancing markers on security lanes. Sanitizing stations everywhere.
contactless payment transactions,
widespread signage, social distancing
queuing, passenger Covid Resource
Center ,upcoming temperature screening,
providing masks to customers if
needed, continued communications to
passengers and terminal workers. T4
is committed to working with all government
agencies, airline partners,
stakeholders and the Port Authority to
insure continued communication and
implement changes better determined
to increase level of safety and confidence
to the flying public.
Terminal One at JFK is the only exclusive
international terminal at the
airport. Because of this, it has been hit
hard by the covidvirus because of the
strict travel restrictions in lave by our
federal and overseas governments to
keep respective borders safe from the
spread.
Now months after the Schengen order
was decreed to greatly mitigate the
number of flights entering the country
and other country restrictions,
there are rule changes allowing more
international flights into the U.S. and
vice-versa to address the increasing
volume of passengers. Terminal One’s
Executive Director of Operations Steve
Rowland and his staff have put many
safety features in place. Rowland has
implemented many passenger and
worker safety changes to insure safety
and well being. In a message from executive
directors Steve Rowland &
Manoj Patel. “TermonalOne our partners,
airlines and numerous service
providers are no strangers to hard
work and overcoming insurmountable
challenges. It is this dedication that
has proven itself time and time again
in the face of adversity. We are confident,
that together, we will overcome
this challenge as well and will emerge
stronger and wiser than ever before.”
Delta is offering the highest standards
in sanitization and protection
for travel confidence. They are providing
similar procedures as those
of Terminal 4 at JFK. However their
on board procedures include, plexiglass
shields at check0in, use of face
masks, through September 30, more
space for customers on all aircraft, adjusted
boarding process, every flight
sanitized, every flight equipped with a
HEPA filtering system and less touch
points when possible. Delta is also using
electrostatic fogging cleaning in
their aircraft after each flight.
From a Bank of America survey,
here are some interesting results:
BOA surveyed more than 4,500 consumers
across the U.S. from May 28
through June 7. Here are some of the
key findings.
Among those surveyed, 70% plan
to take a leisure vacation, and 39% of
those respondents expect to fly.
One out of three travelers who fly
at least once a year for business plan
on taking a business trip within three
months.
Sixty-two percent of business travelers
expect to travel by the end of the
year.
Only 32% of those surveyed plan on
traveling internationally within six
months.
This implies that a return in international
travel demand will notably
lag the domestic recovery.
More than half of people surveyed
are comfortable traveling by plane
when restrictions are lifted, even if
there is no readily available vaccine.
However, 24% of people aren’t comfortable
flying without a vaccine, and
this implies it will take several years
for air traffic to return to 2019 levels.