By Philip Newman
Gov. George Pataki called it “a great day for JFK and the economy of Queens.”
Delta officials said the project, to begin next summer and scheduled for completion in 2004, would bring 6,000 permanent jobs, 6,500 construction jobs and more than $12.3 billion to New York's regional economy.
“This news is a $1.6 billion investment in the future of JFK airport and New York City,” said Queens Borough President Claire Shulman. “We are grateful to Gov. Pataki and all those responsible for making this major development happen.”
Delta said the expansion would at least triple its flights at JFK. It will be the largest corporate investment in the airline's 76-year history.
Delta plans to add eight new gates at Terminal 2 and put 26 gates in the new Terminal 4, which is under construction and will be used by Delta as well as other airlines. The enormous building will also feature a vast concourse of shops, restaurants, tiny parks as well as departure areas and the only indoor station of the AirTrain light rail line.
The project will mean the end for the Worldport, the spectacular terminal built by the now-defunct Pan American World Airways. It opened in 1960 expressly for the first generation of passenger jets, the Boeing 707. The Worldport featured a roof shaped like a colossal dinner plate, under which Pan Am, then America's greatest overseas airline, parked its jets.
Delta acquired many of Pan Am's routes after the carrier filed for bankruptcy in the late 1980s.
The demolition of Worldport will make way for a bridge for pedestrians and baggage to connect Terminals 2 and Terminal 4, formerly the International Arrivals Building.
“Delta is a good neighbor,” said U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-St. Albans). “This will help assure that Kennedy is the greatest airport in this land.”
Meeks, in whose congressional district includes JFK, appeared at a Manhattan news conference where Delta announced the project.
Leo Mullen, chief executive officer and chairman of Delta, thanked Pataki, the city of New York, Charles Gargano of the Empire State Development Corp., Shulman and Meeks for their support of the project.
“This is an outstanding day for JFK International Airport and for the economy of Queens,” said Pataki, “Delta's $1.6 billion investment puts New York at the center of its northeast expansion, creating 6,000 new permanent jobs and telling the industry that New York has reemerged as a home for aviation.”
“Delta's expansion will be a cornerstone of our overall $9 billion JFK Redevelopment Program, the largest project in aviation history that strengthens JFK's place as America's international gateway,” Pataki said.
Pataki could not resist ribbing Atlanta, home of Delta's corporate headquarters.
“It's been a tough year in Atlanta,” Pataki said, referring to the National League baseball team. “The Braves never even made the playoffs.”
State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) looked at Mullen and suggested the Delta chief's first order of business in operating Delta's regional jet service should be to cut fares within New York state.
“Some of these fares cost about a much as a trip to Paris,” Silver said.
Regional jets are planes with 70 or fewer seats and are supposed to provide service to underserved cities where lack of competition has meant, in the case of flights within New York state, almost prohibitively expensive fares. Airlines have applied for permission for a total of more than 600 such flights at LaGuardia, raising fears of thousands of Queens residents that the new flights would bring more noise and worsen traffic jams near LaGuardia airport.
The Port Authority has ordered a moratorium on new flights at LaGuardia although some airline executives have questioned the Port Authority's right to do so.
