Delta expanding Terminal 4 at JFK

It will soon be easier to fly the friendly skies.
Last week, Delta Air Lines and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey broke ground on the $1.2 billion project that will enhance and expand Terminal 4 at John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport. The project will create a state-of-the-art facility for New York’s fastest growing global airline.
“Delta continues to make substantial investments in New York, and our terminal project at JFK is among the most significant,” said Delta Chief Executive Officer Richard Anderson at the ceremony on Friday, November 19. “Our new facility is designed to meet the needs of the world’s largest and most competitive aviation market with significant benefits to our customers, employees and the City of New York for decades to come. We look forward to our continued partnership with JFKIAT, Schiphol and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on this ambitious project.”
Currently, Delta operates predominantly out of Terminal 2 for its domestic flights and Terminal 3, internationally. The expansion of Terminal 4 – which has been successfully managed by JFKIAT for more than a decade – will replace the outdated Terminal 3 facilities and enhance the customer experience for the 11 million passengers Delta serves at JFK annually.
Delta anticipates that customers will experience an improvement in operational performance through dual taxiways, resulting in reduced taxi times and better on-time performance. They also will experience improved inter-terminal passenger connectors between Terminals 2 and 4.
The expanded Terminal 4 will have nine new international gates on the B Concourse. Customers also will benefit from enhanced baggage claim areas, and expanded Customs and Border Protection area. In addition, the consolidation of two passenger security checkpoints will create a more efficient, passenger-friendly, post-security environment for retail and food and beverage offerings.
“Through large and much-needed construction projects, we are able to continue to drive economic development in the region by creating both on-airport jobs and construction-related work. Projects like these not only benefit the travelers that pass through our doors, but also the communities that our facilities call home,” said Port Authority Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni.
Delta customers will benefit from the airline’s ability to continue expanding its international network, which currently includes nonstop service to 96 global destinations from JFK and more than 1,200 weekly departures. International service includes nonstop flights to Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, with new service to Reykjavik, Iceland beginning in June 2011.
Since making a strategic decision to build New York into a hub earlier this decade, Delta has made major investments across the region, boosting its economic impact to more than $13 billion annually. Delta’s current JFK operation generates 49,000 jobs in the region. The Terminal 4 expansion project will stimulate economic development regionally through direct on-airport jobs and construction related work, creating an additional 10,000 jobs in the New York Metropolitan Region by 2014. Over the next 60 months, the $1.2 billion project will generate $500 million of personal income in the region and $1.6 billion of economic output from the purchases of goods and services.
When completed, the total economic impact of Delta’s New York operation will contribute more than $19 billion annually to the state.
With construction underway, completion of phase one and relocation of Delta’s Terminal 3 operations to Terminal 4 is anticipated in May 2013. Delta’s JFK terminal project includes: the expansion of Concourse B at Terminal 4, including nine new international gates; the construction of a passenger connector between Terminal 2 and Terminal 4; expanded areas for baggage claim, Customs and Border Protection, and, ultimately, the demolition of Terminal 3, which will be completed for aircraft parking in May 2015.