Aviation Week’s Aaron Karp talks with New York JFK International Airport's New Terminal One COO Simon Gandy about the major construction project underway to build the airport’s largest terminal and plans for running the modern facility, including using biometrics at passenger touchpoints.
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Rush Transcript
Aaron Karp:
Welcome to Window Seat, our Aviation Week Network air-transport podcast. I'm Aaron Karp, a contributing editor to the Aviation Week Network and a senior editor with Air Transport World.
Today, we're talking with Simon Gandy, who's the Chief Operating Officer of the New Terminal One at JFK. That will be the new international terminal at JFK, and it is the largest element, the most expensive element of the $19 billion overhaul currently going on at Kennedy Airport.
I met with Simon in his office earlier this year, and you can look out for a feature on the New Terminal One in the July-August issue of Air Transport World, but we wanted to talk to him again and just let our listeners know what's happening with JFK and this new international Terminal, which is quite a project.
So Simon, welcome aboard. Why don't you just start off by talking about the project generally? And maybe a good place to start is how this is structured financially, because it is much more structured like, say, a European airport or a South American airport in terms of its private structure. So perhaps you could just start talking about that and how it is somewhat different for the US market.
Simon Gandy:
Thank you and good morning. New Terminal One is the privately funded consortium developing, building and operating the new international gateway of Terminal One. It will anchor the overall $19 billion redevelopment of JFK.
New Terminal One's financial sponsors are Ferrovial, a big construction company, JLC Infrastructure, Ullico and Carlyle, a really great blend of sponsors. And our first phase, with a capital commitment of $9 billion, is the largest single-asset project financed in US history. Phase one, due to open mid-2026, and will have 14 widebody gates in the terminal headhouse, and full completion will be done in 2030, building out to 23 gates in total. That's 22 widebody gates, which is really important for international traffic, and one narrowbody gate.
Aaron Karp:
And why is the structure seen as a bit of a proof point in the US for the kind of airport privatization that we see elsewhere in the world?
Simon Gandy:
Airports in the US have traditionally been funded through various sources, including federal grants, passenger facility charges, rents, etc. And most airports and terminals in the US are publicly owned, which constrains in some way how funds can be raised, and that can lead to a degree of underinvestment and aging in airport infrastructure.
With New Terminal One being a public-private partnership, it unlocks the potential of the private capital to drive the investment and the innovation, and we will certainly have a lot of that in our new facility and we want to give credit to the Port Authority for taking the lead in driving this bold and transformational agenda at JFK. We have an ambition for the New Terminal One, though, to serve as a real proof point for the rest of the US on the transformation that P3s can bring to the airport sector as we've seen elsewhere around the world.
Aaron Karp:
A P3 is a public-private partnership. Why don't you give us an update on the construction? What's the size of it? Where do things stand? What's going on right now and what do you need to do to get ready for opening day in a couple of years?
Simon Gandy:
Yeah, there's lots to do and it is only two years. We're on track for a mid-2026 opening. We celebrated some key milestones already this year. We began the installation of the curtain walling. We had our topping-off ceremony in March, which was placing the last steel beam at the highest point of the headhouse. We've installed our first escalators, we began installing the baggage-handling system, and we've been doing all of that over the top of the existing air train. So if you are coming into JFK on the air train, you actually drive straight through the building as we're building it. So it's very much starting to take shape, which is fantastic for the local community to see because they can see the reality of what this ambition really is taking shape.
Aaron Karp:
And these will all be international airlines serving this terminal. Could you talk about which airlines are signed up, and how many airlines do you expect and what sorts of airlines?
Simon Gandy:
It is going to be a mix. A lot of the international carriers are in the existing Terminal One, and we will be pulling most of those carriers, we hope, into the New Terminal One facility, as well as we are seeing interest from other terminals coming across. We've got a number of carriers already signed up, so Air France, LOT, Etihad, to name a few, and we've got around about 26% of our future opening traffic volume already signed up, ready to go, and that's two years out.
And obviously we'll be trying to push that harder, because whilst we've got two years, if all of the airlines come at once at the end, it's pretty untenable, so we need a staged approach for airlines to come across and at least get ready and start planning that move into New Terminal One. We're expecting to have, as I said, a mix of different types of carriers. You'll see, obviously, the well-known international carriers coming across, as well as some of the less well-known airlines that connect with the domestic traffic out of New York JFK.
Aaron Karp:
The terminal will only be for international flights, only for non-US airlines. How does that change the way the terminal operates and how you think about the terminal compared to a terminal that may have a mix of domestic and international?
Simon Gandy:
It's a really interesting question because we talk a lot with carriers about the fact that all international carriers that will be operating out of the terminal will have the same opportunity to develop their business in an international sector. And having the freedom away from, say, a large domestic carrier, where you could be an international carrier operating within a predominantly domestic terminal, actually gives them a lot of benefit.
We also focus in on making sure that those critical customer touchpoints of security and the type of security, obviously the broader agencies aspect, and making sure that the expectations that those international carriers have become used to abroad, so in the Middle East and in Europe, that we are providing those services in the international terminal.
So we will have biometrics. We will have self bag drops. We will have biometric boarding at the gate for those carriers that have the technology already embedded in their systems. And that's all about trying to give time back to the travelers so that they can enjoy the experience. It's intuitive, and actually it's enabled by the huge increase in technology that we're starting to see around the world, and as I said, international carriers are used to it.
Aaron Karp:
In terms of biometrics, how will that work? Do you have the technology sorted out yet, and do you think passengers will be welcoming to the idea of using a biometric identifier as a way to move through the airport?
Simon Gandy:
We are seeing it more and more in airports around the world, that this is becoming the norm. So we have to be forward-thinking in looking at those benefits that technology can provide into the passenger experience. We have to be harnessing that and building that into our future plans. We are seeing people accepting biometrics, particularly the facial biometrics, as being a key enabler for them to enter their documentation once and then use that biometric visual identifier throughout the journey as a passenger.
Aaron Karp:
And I know one thing you said to me is that you're being open about the technology in that you want to have the most advanced technology, and so something may become available between now and opening day. How are your thoughts in that regard about timing the technology?
Simon Gandy:
We're being deliberate about not being a place where we will be a first mover on technology. We are very much concerned that what we do have and we open with is still relevant and still new, but not at the leading edge of technology, because there is so much that we are trying to do in the totality of the terminal. We are very keen that when we do open that technology will have been used around the world, it will be familiar, and therefore, we won't need that learning curve with the travelers on day one, because there'll be so many other things that we are trying to make sure are working and running like clockwork so that the passengers' journey is seamless.
Aaron Karp:
Zooming back a little, could you talk a little bit about what the terminal will look like, its size? I know it's sitting on land that three terminals were previously on. How is it being designed? What will it look like for passengers walking through it?
Simon Gandy:
It is going to be a combination of stunning architecture with cathedral-like ceilings. The outer skin of the building is predominantly glass, so it's got this wonderful curtain wall that wraps the whole facility. The size of the development in its totality is 2.4 million square feet, which is a huge undertaking. As you arrive on the forecourt, you'll come through three major open doors straight into the building and you're straight into the check-in area, which again, as I say, has a huge ceiling sitting above it. So light, spacious, full of what you would expect in terms of retail provision and technology for processing at check-in and security.
We will also be peppering the passenger journey with iconic art installations that remind the traveler of where they are, so iconic New York pieces from New York artists and particularly from the Queens area around the airport. Once you've gone through what you might see as the traditional check-in and security, you are then into this amazing journey of experience, walking through accessible luxury and then into the food and beverage offerings that we will be providing in terms of the dining opportunities that will exist within the departures area. We continue the theme of high ceilings all the way down the piers, as well into very spacious gate rooms, which will be kitted out with the latest in technology so that people can be engaged with the flight and the destination that they will going to.
And similarly, on arrivals, we will be somewhat unique in that the arriving traveler won't be going down into the bowels of the building to be processed through border agencies. We actually take people straight in at the higher level into a naturally lit area, which will be full of the border agencies and as much automated processing as we can get at that point in time with the border agencies.
So in essence, what travelers will have seen abroad in the likes of the Middle East with very grand, very open spaces, very intuitive in terms of where you're flying and very engaging in terms of experiences, that's exactly what you're going to get at New Terminal One.
Aaron Karp:
You've been talking about the passenger experience. You talked about the food and dining. How big of a role will concessions play in terms of revenue generation and in terms of passenger experience?
Simon Gandy:
They play their part. Let's take the experience piece first because to get the passenger experience right and to engage with the passenger, we've got to have those three critical elements of every bit of infrastructure that they touch has got to look amazing, continually look amazing day after day, even when you've processed millions of people through the terminal. So our approach will be to make sure that the building and the facilities are exciting and engaging.
You've then got to make sure that all of your systems and your technology is working and providing that whole seamless travel through the building, so that at the touch points of processes like the traditional check-ins and the automated bag drops and the security and the gates that they all work, and they work and they run like clockwork, and they're also engaging with the traveler as well. So engaging with the traveler in the moment, providing them information is absolutely key to us.
And then the third critical point for me is to make sure that the people that occupy the space on behalf of the airport, so those guest agencies that will be facilitating the passenger's journey, are approachable, can spot people in need, can walk up and engage with our future passengers and lead them through if they need to and take them on a journey.
So coming back to the concessions, you will have been assisted through your journey, through infrastructure, through technology, and through people, and then you get to spend time and dwell with the sorts of retail experience that you would expect and maybe some new and special ones that haven't been seen in airports before, which we can't go into detail obviously yet because we're in that stage of actually securing those new concessions. But you can expect the luxury of a Fifth Avenue. You can expect the great dining that you see in the New York area, and you can expect large spaces to be able to sit and rest and dwell and relax prior to boarding your flight.
Aaron Karp:
And in terms of the revenue generated from that, what are your expectations and how important is that?
Simon Gandy:
All revenue is important. The bulk of our revenue is from the passenger charges that are facilitated by the airlines, and the concessions provide a key percentage to our revenue base. They're not the major, but they're an extremely important part.
Aaron Karp:
And just as we move towards the finish here, if you're talking to an airline from around the world and you want to make an elevator pitch to them as to why they should come to the New Terminal One, what would you tell them?
Simon Gandy:
I'd tell them that they should be at New Terminal One because it will be a terminal like no other. It will give passengers an incredible experience that they will want to come back to again and again, and that will in effect be filling the aircraft on their behalf. So part of our mission is to make sure that every passenger that flows through will want to travel again, and therefore, we are supporting our future customer airlines by giving travelers a great experience that will make them want to come back.
Aaron Karp:
Thank you, Simon, and we thank all of you for listening to today's Window Seat podcast. Please look out for Window Seat wherever you get your podcasts. So again, thank you so much. This is Aaron Karp disembarking from Window Seat.
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