Airport Voice
JUNE 2021 NEWS AND VIEWS FROM NEW YORK'S AIRPORT COMMUNITY
SKYBRIDGE OPENS
Unique and awesome design a first for NY airports
MULTIAGENCY
K9
EXPLOSIVE
TRAINING
JFK TSA
sponsors pawfect
exercise
BY JEFF YAPALATER
MAX the German Shepard
TSA recently sponsored a multiagency
K9 training at JFK Airport for federal,
state and local canine law enforcement
personnel and dogs. This training
reinforced ingrained scent responses
and introduced dogs to a variety of explosives,
typical of what can be potentially
found at transportation hubs placed by
extremists with airports at the top of the
list.
This was a quarterly exercise that
TSA holds as inter-agency training where
handlers and many of their dogs from the
PAPD, NYPD, Transit, FBI, USCG, Parks,
and FPS come together to run obstacle
courses sniffing for explosives, and share
info and intel on current potential trouble
and get to know each other.
The TSA K9’s are used in both passenger
and cargo areas. TSA handers
and dogs are primarily used in the passenger
terminals to sniff out any odor on
travelers that pass through security who
might be contain any explosive residue.
Southwest Airlines is the first to use the new taxiways under the unique pedestrian Skybridge in Port airports connecting the Head
house and gates of the New Terminal B at LaGuardia Airport.
LaGuardia Gateway Partners (LGP),
the private entity managing and redeveloping
LaGuardia Airport’s Terminal
B, announced the first aircraft taxi under
the new
Eastern pedestrian Skybridge. Passengers
on Southwest Flight 617 to
Tampa were treated to a full water salute
to celebrate the milestone after
they taxied under the bridge. Passengers
inside Terminal B awaiting their
flights were able to watch the first aircraft
taxi right underneath them as they
stood inside the pedestrian Skybridge.
The eastern Skybridge connects
the Arrivals & Departures Hall, which
opened in June 2020, directly to the
Eastern concourse gates – a truly innovative
design that allowed the original
airport facility to remain operational
throughout construction. The pedestrian
Skybridge is 430 feet long and
the highest part of the bridge is 97 feet
above the taxiway.
When the redevelopment of Terminal
B is fully complete, LaGuardia
will be the only airport in the world
with dual skybridges. The design of
the dual Skybridges will bring a much
needed extra two miles of taxiway
space to the busy airport. The second
skybridge, scheduled to be complete
by the end of 2021.
HEALTHY TERMINALS ACT BILL
LOOMS OVER EMPLOYERS
Airport companies stunned by imminent cost increases
BY JEFF YAPALATER
The Healthy Terminals Act (HTA)
was sponsored by Alicia Hyndman
and Alessandra Biaggi, both of the
NY Assembly. The bill basically mandates
that certain workers at JFK, EWR
and LGA receive a pay increase used
to fund health insurance. Assemblywoman
Hyndman represents a district
from which many airport workers live
and are impacted by lack of health insurance
for working citizens. It is a wellintended
legislation, which will help
thousands of workers who do not have
access to health care through their
work at the airports.
On the other hand, this legislation
places a large economic burden on
See more pages 11 Members of Local BJ 32 protest outside JFK airport. See more pages 22
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