GatewayJFK Exec. Dir. Scott Grimm-Lyon
celebrates with QBP Donovan Richards
AIRPORT VOICE, AUGUST 2021 5
Baggage Service Office
important to travelers
Efficient, reliable baggage claims are available
At a recent airport meeting the Port
Authority commented that one of the
important recommendations after their
disruptions of Storm Grayson a few
years ago was the creation of airline and
terminal baggage repatriation program
through a Baggage Service Office (
BSO). Because summer thunderstorms
and the Hurricane season conditions
are as dangerous as Winter storms, the
Port feels now is a good time to look at
procedures and protocols so that any
adverse summer and fall weather upheavals
can be properly handled without
undue impact to the travelers.
Delta, American and JetBlue have
had their own baggage service. JFKIAT
Terminal 4 and Terminal One instituted
BSO’s to meet the requirements of Port
Authority.
with both having several airlines using
these services in their respective
terminals. The BSO becomes even
more important to the small airlines
that have a limited staff which may not
be able to fully cope with a big event.
The BSO product at JFK T1, Pacific
and Atlantic Handling (PAH) was the
brainchild of Neil Lott and Albert Chi, with
the aim of providing a streamlined solution
for airline carriers and terminal operators
in normal operational settings, and
in the event of irregularities caused by
adverse weather conditions, and other
significant disruption. The streamlining
of procedures supported with specialized
technology, including self-service
baggage claim kiosks, and BagTracer
mobile carts, have significantly improved
the passenger experience. According to
Lott, “The BSO is ready to support the
needs of the Port Authority’s EOC with
a quick response when required. PAH’s
focus on safety and traveler well-being,
has been welcomed during the COVID
19 Pandemic, with the continued
need for social distancing and other
mandatory safety protocols.
Our BSO provides our customers’ a
product for service recovery in the repatriation
process of their bags.”
GatewayJFK
Shuttle success
1000’s of riders enjoy ease of commuting
Between April 5th and July 15th,
2021 the GatewayJFK Connection provided
over 10,000 rides for employees
and community members traveling to
or from the Springfield Gardens neighborhood
to Downtown Jamaica.
The shuttle runs on weekdays from
5:00 AM to 9:00 AM and 2:00 PM to
9:00 PM and operates using a mobile
phone application built by the tech
startup Dollaride. Riders can track the
real time location of the shuttle on a
map, reserve a seat, and digitally pay
for their ride by downloading the Dollaride
app. As of Mid-July daily ridership
has averaged over 300 passengers
per day.
This summer, the GatewayJFK
Connection was officially launched
at a ribbon cutting featuring Community
Members, Business Leaders and
Elected Officials. At the event Queens
Borough President Donovan Richards
linked the shuttle to a vital need for
transit in the area “Coming out of this
pandemic, we’re looking for a new normal
where we no longer have transportation
deserts.”
To promote the new route, GatewayJFK
and Dollaride are giving away
60 free rides to people who download
the ap from the Google Play or Apple
app store, or who sign up at dollaride.
com/gatewayjfk.
Schumer delivers
billions to NY airports
Part of the One Trillion infrastructure bill
U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, recently
announced that the bipartisan infrastructure
deal he has negotiated in the
Senate delivers huge for New York and will
advance critical projects—from Gateway,
to Penn Access, Second Ave Subway, the
MTA/LIRR, East River Tunnels and more.
Infrastructure Funds DIRECTLY For New
York Projects That Are Ready To Go &
Critically Needed; Will Mean Good-Paying
Jobs Also On The Way To Get All This
Work Done
This is part of a Trillion dollar plan that
has passed the Senate and now waits for
the House to vote on it. There is close to $1
Billion for 60 NYS airports out of $25 billion
nationally from this bill.
Schumer said these funds will ensure
the bedrock of New York – its infrastructure,
from water to sewers to subways,
roads and bridges – gets long-awaited investments
and relief needed to meet growing
demands, boost the economy while
safely and responsibly moving both people
and goods across the state and beyond.
Our area airports are set to receive:
Port Authority Airports
John F Kennedy International
$294,682,575
LaGuardia $150,008,970
New York Stewart International
$12,499,175
Area Airports
Long Island MacArthur $21,595,630
Republic $3,735,000
Francis S Gabreski $1,480,000
East Hampton $1,480,000
Bayport Aerodrome $550,000
Brookhaven $1,480,000
Albany International $28,662,945
Floyd Bennett Memorial $1,480,000
Westchester County $22,597,580
Schumer sounds alarm
over fake vaccine cards
Urges all Fed agencies to crack
down on fraud
Amidst a surge of counterfeit
COVID-19 vaccination cards
that could continue to be sold
online or shipped to mail processing
centers like JFK, before
being distributed to various
parts of the country, U.S. Senator
Charles Schumer urged the
feds, specifically U.S. Customs
and Border Protection (CBP),
the Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) and
the FBI to team up and launch
a crackdown against fake COVID
19 vaccination cards. Further,
the Senator urged the feds
to get the word out that selling
or buying the counterfeit cards
is not without risk because doing
so is a federal crime punishable
with fines or up to five
years in jail. Schumer said the
feds must step up their efforts
to ameliorate this problem before
it gets worse. Schumer
also said that the Department
of Justice must prioritize cases
that involve breaking the law in
this regard, as well as deploying
an educational campaign that
explains why this is wrong and
the consequences. Schumer
dislayed how fake vaccination
cards have been advertised
on social media, blogs
and more while he pointed to
new evidence that suggests a
ramp-up of overseas production
of cards in countries like
China. Schumer also warned
that for those who did receive
a real vaccination card, they
should not post it on social media
because their info could be
used in the process of making a
counterfeit card.