Makes sense. The new Airtrain comes online in 2030, and they can’t demolish the old terminals until that happens.
Design is still underway and if they’re efficient, they’ll have it ready to go for when the Airtrain is done and they can capture the site.
They can start construction for the new terminal while a new Airtrain is being built. They released the vision plan in 2024. It is moving extremely slow.
If they were to do meaningful work on the new terminal, they first have to demolish the old Terminals A and B. The buildings are structurally tied into existing Airtrain right of way, so they can’t even start demolition until the new Airtrain opens.
Additionally, the existing Airtrain guideway blocks aircraft from reaching the terminal site. Phasing construction of the new terminal for this condition would be needlessly complicated.
Unsurprising. The PA is moving laughably slow with it. Also, there is an EWR thread here. Updates happen so infrequently that its hard to find if you aren’t intentionally looking for it.
The AirTrain should have been built with the New A since it was discussed with the original announcements. The PA fumbled this so badly with delays that its not a surprise that a New B is going to take eternity.
Megaprojects in this country require strong wills. Cuomo offered a driving force for the active projects in his jurisdiction (LGA, JFK, Second Ave Subway). Today the Trump Admin, for its many ills, seems to be working through a solid Penn Station plan at shocking speed.
Over in Jersey, they just don’t have that sort of urgency right now. And the Port certainly isn’t gonna provide it.
Back to projects that are actually underway, here are some lightning-fast updates from JFK taken over the last few weeks.
At Terminal One, most of the (delayed) progress remains indoors. Outside, more curbside finishes have gone up, and they’ve even done a bit of landscaping which looks lovely. I snapped some progress of the GTC as well, where you can see the exact place where T1’s scope ends and the PA’s will begin.
I think the November opening target for T1 is reasonable, and I look forward to keeping tabs on it. At T6, I saw a test of the exterior lighting over the curbside. I’ll do a more in-depth review here in the coming weeks.
Finally, I flew out of T8 and snapped some pics of the interior renovation. I can remember the old concessions being a train wreck, so this marks a massive improvement. Like most international terminals, the operators have chosen to reroute the main passenger circulation through the commercial area and to the dining area. Honestly, I didn’t mind this; whereas the dining area felt very out of the way before, here it felt like a focal point. I’d love to experience it in daylight next time.
The sunset views of the skyline from JFK are something else.
Amazing pics. Thanks.
Great updates @BA178
Flying out of t1 next month, looking forward to sharing any progress
wow, fantastic!
The Port Authority is jointly controlled by the Governor’s of New York and New Jersey, the Chairman of the Agency is always a New Jersey appointee. The LaGuardia and Kennedy redevelopments happened because New Jersey agreed. In exchange, the Port Authority will make equal investments in New Jersey. This long-standing precedent goes back to the building of the World Trade Center, in exchange for New Jersey agreeing to allowing the Port Authority building the World Trade Center the New York delegation had to agree to the agency acquiring the Hudson & Manhattan railroad (today’s PATH).
New Jersey is benefitting from a new Terminal A at EWR, and new Terminal B, new Airtrain, new Port Authority bus terminal (benefits mostly NJ commuters) and Port Authority contributions to the Gateway tunnel project.
Thanks all—I should note my pics are from around May 10th, however I was unable to post during my travels. I anticipate more progress has been made in the time since.
Here’s a recent video I found that shows some of the interior of the new T1.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/2094356044830486/?mibextid=ZZyLBr
Great find!! Love the mural in progress inside the arrivals hall.
I notice they’ve done a massive glass wall separating check in from security, likely driven by the same regulations behind the weird net in the T4 departures hall.
Kind of funny how it was excluded from the renders.
wow, the space looks incredible. Grander and more spacious in this video than just photos. Looking forward to its opening.
And yes, I agree that giant mural is beautiful and very moving/evocative!
That’s a lot of scanners. I hope they are manned all the time,and not closed forcing people to line up.
I count at least 10 in that picture, doubt they’ll all be in use at the same time but it’s good to have the extra to meet demand if needed. I love seeing interior pics like this.
I can already hear TSA “Officers” shouting non stop.
Some pictures of Terminal 6 from LinkedIn account Rare Volume, showing lots of progress. The terminal does feel pretty small in pictures, even if it’s much larger than Terminal 7 it’s replacing. I like the gate areas!
Amazing pics! It’s really looking like it’s almost ready to open. The first pic reminds me of a larger version of LGA Terminal B.
Here’s a pic I found of a boarding bridge being lifted for gate 601. At this rate, I can see the terminal being ready to open come July-August. By the time the new Terminal One opens, they’ll already be demolishing Terminal 7!
