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American Airlines Unveils New Terminal at Kennedy Airport in New York

Posted on: Thursday, 28 July 2005, 15:00 CDT

Jul. 28--The ceiling soars 65 feet. The lobby is about half the size of a football field. There are shops, restaurants and a posh club.

It may sound like a shopping mall, but it is actually American Airlines' new $1.1 billion terminal at Kennedy Airport, slated to open to travelers Aug. 24.

Yesterday, American, the world's largest airline, offered the media, airline industry executives and government officials a preview of the cavernous building. The facility is part of an overall $10 billion, public-private program begun in the early 1990s aimed at remaking the face of the aging airport, with new roadways, cargo hangars, passenger terminals and the AirTrain, a light-rail system that began operating in December 2003.

Kenneth J. Ringler Jr., executive director of The Port Authority, which operates Kennedy, said much of the project is under way or has been completed.

The American terminal -- the biggest project and the largest investment the Fort Worth, Texas-based airline has ever made in the New York area -- is to open in two phases. The second phase is to open in late 2006.

When both phases are completed, the terminal will total 1.5 million square feet. The new terminal will replace American's 45-year-old Terminal 8 as well as Terminal 9, which opened in 1959. Those will be demolished.

The terminal will handle an average of 23,000 passengers a day flying American and American Eagle, its regional carrier. It will have gates for 36 aircraft, half of them capable of handling international flights. The ticketing lobby is 57,000 square feet, half the size of a football field. The terminal will have 67 ticketing positions. Ten security lanes will be able to process 1,800 passengers per hour.

There will be a posh, 11,000-square-foot Admirals Club for frequent travelers, furnished with chairs upholstered with images of the Empire State Building and other city landmarks. Travelers will have a choice of shops and eateries.

Big as the terminal is, it would have been bigger had it not been for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. After them, American scaled back to save money because people were flying much less. Original plans called for a 56-gate, nearly 2 million-square-foot facility. Most airline terminals across the country have between six and 12 gates.

Gerard Arpey, American's chairman and chief executive, told a gathering of about 300 people that New York is "one of the world's top tourist destinations, and it plays a very important strategic role in our global network."

American has been gearing up for an increase in overseas travel. Industrywide, such travel has grown by about 30 percent in the past two years alone. Many international travelers are business executives, a segment of the flying public American hopes to capture more of by providing a huge terminal.

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AMR, AAI,

Source: Newsday, Melville, N.Y.

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