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2 AIRPORT VOICE, AUGUST 2021
PUBLISHER & EDITOR: Jeffrey Yapalater • V.P. OF ADVERTISING: Ralph D’Onofrio
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Jeff Yapalater
516-425-4645
PANYNJ Board Meeting for
August 2021-Busy Agenda
Redevelopment, MBE initiatives, deficits and appointments
Last meeting before the 911 Memorial Service
BY JEFF YAPALATER
It was a very busy August Port
Authority Board meeting from approving
the JetBlue JMP terminal
redevelopment, approval of a
cargo lease with Amazon Global
Air at Newark Airport, new enhanced
MWBE program at the
Port Authority, audits of food concessions
overcharges at the airports,
honoring members of the
PAPD, welcoming new Inspector
General management and list of
events for the upcoming 20th anniversary
of 911.
EWR Cargo lease
Aviation Director Huntley
Lawrence presented the lease
recommendation to the commission
for the 20-year at buildings
339&340 at Newark Airport
to Amazon Global Air. The lease
was awarded after a competitive
procurement process in which
Amazon came in with best offer.
20-year term, 5 yr. option to renew.
$125 million investment. The
lease recommendation was approved
by a vote of the Commissioners
JFK T6 lease
Chief Development Officer
Derek Utter presented the recommendation
for JMP consortium,
including JetBlue, lease
approval for the redevelopment
of T6 at JFK Airport. This wide
reaching lease would include a
new building conjoining with existing
T5 for an entirely new international
terminal encompassing
the footprint of T7 which is
scheduled to be demolished to
make to room for this building.
Described as a “Monumental
Project” by Chairman Kevin
O’Toole, the $3.9 billion investment
for redevelopment of T6 is
entirely funded by the investor
group and JetBlue with $130 million
contributed by the Port to pay
for needed property infrastructure
preparation. Some gates are
planned to opening in 2025 with
completion in 2027.
It was noted that MWBE is a
component in the lease agreement
along with community development
through the JFK Redevelopment
Advisory Council of
45 elected and community leaders
supporting the creation of
4,000 jobs.
It was agreed by board members
that this JMP lease was an
“Extraordinary effort with PPP
working through issues, despite
covid, community, support
of leaders Meeks and Donovan
and City of NY with emergency
10-year land lease extension. “
O’Toole gave extensive kudos to
Cotton for his dedication, work
and team effort to get all the airport
infrastructure projects going
though the tough covid environment.
The recommended motion
was passed.
Financial report
In the financial report, there is
still a projected $3 billion deficit
for the period April 2020- March
2022 given the still depressed
volumes of activity at airports
and the PATH system in contrast
to the strong volume at Seaports
and bridge and tunnel crossings.
It was reported that in order to
mitigate loses, the Port identified
and achieved reducing operating
expenses $190 million dollars in
it’s austerity budget.
There has been some Federal
support, FAA funding for
earmarked projects but the much
needed $3 billion shortfall is still
underfunded as resumption of
activity slowly improves. The Fed
support to date offsets less than
25% of revenue loss and Port
continues to advocate for additional
bi-state funding. Additional
support has been included in the
Senate by Senator Schumer for
over $1 billion for airport assistance
statewide but still does not
plug the hole n the agency projected
deficit.
Chief of Diversity and Inclusion
Michael Messiah introduced
a new program for minority contractors;
It authorizes the Port to
have direct contact with
Port certified and underutilized
firms for contracts for all
categories to close any disparities
for underserved entities. He
aid there has been progress but
disparity.
The board voted for this
change in procurement.
Report from
Executive Director
Rick Cotton
Cotton began by saying that
the impact of the Covid remains
low because of the measures
in place to protect workers and
travelers. However, the Port will
mandate that all Port (and NYS
workers per Gov. Cuomo) workers
either be fully vaccinated or
have weekly tests as of Labor
Day to mitigate spread of the
disease so workers have time to
get their vaccines. Currently Port
workers are in offices 2 days a
week to minimize contact. Port
will strengthen mask requirements
in offices with Cotton saying
that this is a top priority for
the public and employees. Once
again, he expressed thanks to
the Port employees for their hard
work and 23 unions representing
majority of employees.
Cotton comments:
Cotton referred to the two major
projects, one cargo at EWR
and the other T6 at JFK that underscores
the commitment of
staff and the employees to continue
to work on major projects
despite the obstacles set forth by
Covid.
He said that June airport volume
report is getting better in
that the first 5 months of 2021
are down 62% compared to 2019
but better in July down 35% compared
to 2019 based on weekly
averages. It should be noted that
the greatest decline in Port airports
is on the international travel
sector where restrictive Federal
measures remain in place since
February 2020.
The AirTrain LGA project received
the final Record of Decision
recently FAA after 2 years
of working on the submissions,
public review and FAA approval.
The project is now in the design
segment working with community
groups for their input for final
design submission. Cotton was
proud to state that the AirTrain is
rapid, reliable and clean and expects
basic infrastructure ground
breaking imminently.
He praised LGA Terminal B
for their July 15, LEED Gold certification
acknowledging that this
is the 1st in world cerrtification
under more stringent requirements.
The Department of Transportation
granted $44 million for
modernization in configuration of
roads network at Newark Airport.
Cotton reiterated O’Toole’s
call for review and audit of concession
pricing at all airports. We
are committed to wage policy and
recognizing workers at same time
to full enforcement of pricing.
Continued on page 22