JetBlue opens terminal at JFK

Calling the company “a classic New York success story,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg keynoted the gala opening day of the 21st century gateway to New York - the new JetBlue terminal at JFK airport.
As a tribute to the airline’s Queens roots, the ceremony was opened by the Junior-ROTC Color Guard from Aviation High School in Long Island City.
Speaker after speaker praised both the airline and the new Terminal 5, or “T5” as it has been dubbed, for its post-9/11 design, accommodating a projected 20 percent of all JFK passenger traffic with “unprecedented speed and efficiency.”
The modern structure, with 40 ticket counters, 65 “E-ticket” kiosks and a 20-lane security checkpoint, has 26 gates, and a goal of a 30 minute “turn-around,” to help rehabilitate New York’s reputation for passenger delays, according to the airline.
The day got off to a startling start, when the existing JetBlue terminal was evacuated after scanners revealed suspected explosive devices in a passenger’s luggage.
At 7:50 a.m. on Monday, September 22, security alarms sounded when a package containing what appeared to be two World War II “pineapple” hand-grenades were discovered.
According to JetBlue spokesperson Alison Eshelman, the package held replica grenades that were used as paperweights. Passengers were allowed back into the terminal at about 8:15 a.m. The passenger was not identified.
Nothing could dampen the excitement of the ceremonies that afternoon however, as hundreds of present and former employees of the low-cost airline joined dignitaries including Ewart Brown, Premier of Bermuda; U.S. Representative Gregory Meeks; Queens Borough President Helen Marshall and State Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith, in saluting the new home base of the airline that was conceived and founded in an apartment in Kew Gardens eight years ago.
“JetBlue’s new terminal represents a major investment in New York City and is a tremendous vote of confidence in our future,” Bloomberg said, pointing out that “they’ve become the largest airline at Kennedy,” to cheers.
The new facility, located behind the landmark Eero Saarinen-designed TWA terminal, “reinterprets the iconic terminal’s futuristic vision of air travel,” according to the company.
When the winged-design TWA terminal is renovated, people will be able to enter the newest JFK terminal through the oldest, to “an environment that is bold, celebratory and affirmatively New York,” said David Rockwell, founder and CEO of design consultant the Rockwell Group.
Bloomberg and local officials pointed to the more than 5,400 jobs and Queens roots of the company to the great appreciation of the audience, which included members of the “TWA Clipped Wings,” an organization of former TWA flight attendants, who appeared in vintage TWA uniforms.
Premier Brown praised JetBlue’s economy fares for boosting tourism both to his island nation, and to New York.
The biggest cheers, however, were reserved for JetBlue founder Dave Neeleman, who got his vision off the ground from his apartment in Kew Gardens. At every mention of his name, “the crowd went wild.”
In keeping with the “affirmatively New York” promise, the ribbon-cutting was kicked-off with an introductory performance by the Radio City Music Hall dancers, the “Rockettes.”
The festivities continued until the evening hours, with guests exploring the concourse’s shops and spaces to the sounds of live music, including a performance by R&B singer Estelle.
They got to explore a vintage-1937 Lockheed 12A Electra, perhaps the oldest flying passenger aircraft, and enjoyed free beverages and food from the numerous eateries - including sushi, filet mignon “sliders” and vegetarian offerings - but no pineapple