September JFK GM
Stakeholder Meeting
Operation Allied Welcome Command Center. Governor Hochul stated that 240 Afghans are expected to resettle in NYC between now and March 2022. Preparations are place at JFK Airport
in the event arrival of passengers from Afghanistan and U.S. Citizens back from Kabul evacuation for resettlement in NYC or to other nearby areas.
AIRPORT VOICE, SEPTEMBER 2021 27
Topics: Snow, security, resumption of activities
BY JEFF YAPALATER
JFK GM Charles Everett
opened the meeting with thanks
to the community for support for
operations during storm IDA, and
prayers for recovery of our local
area. The airport did not suffer
damage but neighborhoods near
the airport suffered greatly. He
offered prayers for their recovery,
which was supported by a visit of
the President aboard AF1 at JFK
to tour the area and offer assistance.
As excitement builds along
with building number of passengers,
Port is working on a Welcome
Back campaign. Teresa
Rizzuto promises updates on
this new promotion for passengers
and worker to support airport
transportation confidence.
CBP Acting Port Director
Teneval Thomas reported
that JFK international arrivals
are 57% of what it was in
2019. This number has been increased
every month as more
countries are allowing U.S. citizens
to visit after meeting vaccine
and testing requirements in
some cases 5-10 quarantine.
JFK Airport was designated
as a possible processing point
for refugees from Afghanistan if
an overflow location was needed
from an overcrowded Dulles and
Philadelphia facilities. Named
Operation Allied Welcome, to
date, there have been no flights,
but Port, CBP, TSA and CDC are
ready for any activity at JFK.
TSA reported that there
would be a moment of silence at
checkpoints for 911. It was also
reported that TSA is continuing
to work with all cargo companies
implementing the 100%
cargo-screening mandate. In addition,
TSA is finishing up its annual
inspections and will share
results with the community. They
thanked the ID office for fast applicant
processing to help keep
the workforce adequate to meet
strong cargo demand.
FAA reported that the volume
of flights remains similar to
last month with 900-100 flights
daily compared to about 1300-
1500 from 2019. Domestic activity
is almost 2:1 over international
travel due to restrictions from
the Federal government. There
are efforts by the airlines to seek
looser restrictions such as a vaccine
mandate for entry into the
U.S, by foreigners as they do for
U.S. citizen in many countries.
FAA said it would temporarily
stop repair work on the ATC during
the UNGA period when many diplomats
enter the U.S. through JFK.
FAA is working to properly
handle all the anticipated additional
flights due in for UNGA.
PAPD Deputy Inspector
Magrone share that crime was
low with some larceny and not
person-on-person issues. PAPD
is gearing up for UNGA arrivals
from the 63 countries intending
to visit NYCF for this annual
event. Last year it was not held
in person.
Kaamco’s VP Mark Flug
reminded Port that the community
needs an updated list of Port
Authority contacts. Port has said
it will provide these shortly. Flug
said that the Operations Interline
Committee is back with meeting
chaired under Julie Emond.
He also reminded everyone
that the annual dinner dance
on Nov. 19th is a combined
KAAMCO and KAAMCO event
to be held at Manhattan’s Tribeca
Rooftop restaurant.
Snow! Yes it is preparations
for snow season according
to John Arancio. Preps for
this and continuance of observing
the procedures put in place
following 2018 Storm Grayson
include: all stakeholders keep informed
and participate through
the AOC and EOC command
centers, monitoring flights during
storms and keep AOC in the
loop on all cancellations and diversions.
Arancio said they need
to look at certification forms and
resource sharing, and pre-storm
agreements for adequate staffing
levels and EOC participation.
Baggage repatriation is a
key CX need. Common use BSO
should have.
Minimum standards, such as
clear signage for BSO, a reliable
baggage repatriation system, inform
passengers of repatriation
updates, and expected timeframe
for overall baggage repatriation.
Nikola Vucucevic, Security
Compliance Supervisor, reminded
the community on escort
procedures. When escorting, he
referred to rules making sure
those escorted are in visual and
vocal contact at all times. On another
matter, tenants need to test
building access control systems
daily. Any non-functional, must
be reported to Port and TSA.
Manny Ciminello of the
Physical plant stressed the need
to test fire alarm systems with
the central monitor station. Any
testing must be reported prior to
alarm company Scarsdale Security
so that testing alarms do not
initiate a response form the Fire
Department itself.
Jamaal Cox of the AirTrain
reported upcoming AirTrain partial
shutdowns between Jamaica
and Fed Circle. Shuttle bus service
will serve as backup. Cox
confirmed that all these buses are
ADA compliant For daily updates
on AirTrain and other important
matters, call in to DACC daily.
In other matters, Deputy
Manager JFK Teresa Rizzuto
said that the required vaccines
by NYS do not apply to the
airports. She said airports have
“unique operations” and are exempt.
Masking for everyone is
still mandatory everywhere and
TSA increased fines for mask
violations to $500-$1000 for first
offenders and $1000-$3000 for
second offenders.
Rizzuto also mentioned that
Port Traffic Management is working
with PAPD in patrolling the
roadways around the parking lots
and keeping them free of waiting
vehicles that are illegally parked
there.
She announced the special
911 Memorial service and unveiling
of the JFK 911 Memorial
Monument in front of Building
14 on September 10th in observance
of 9-11.
The next GM meeting
is scheduled for October
14 11am following the
Kaamco meeting at 10:15
am.