America's sixth busiest airport warns of summer travel chaos that could ruin your vacation
Airport officials are hoping travelers leave their car keys at home.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey — the agency that oversees airports and bridges around the city — is urging flyers to take the train if they're heading to JFK.
'We are once again asking travelers to leave their cars at home and take public transit to the airport,' Kevin O'Toole, the agency's chairman, said.
'Yes, there will be some temporary inconvenience. But it's all part of building an airport our region can be proud of — for decades to come.'
JFK, New York's busiest airport, is in the middle of a $19 billion overhaul that will stretch through the summer. Port Authority says the project is about to hit a 'peak.'
At the same time, the agency is also expecting record-setting crowds during popular travel months.
To ease congestion, they're incentivizing passengers to opt for transit.
Suitcase-toting passengers will pay half the normal fare — just $4.25 instead of $8.50 — on the airport's AirTrain this summer.
Passengers can catch the monorail train from stops along the Long Island Rail Road and New York's Subway.
Meanwhile, drivers who brave the construction might run into a problem once they reach the airport: the agency said parking during construction will be 'extremely limited.'
'We apologize for any inconvenience, but we promise that a new JFK is just around the corner, with the first new gates opening next year,' Rick Cotton, the agency's top boss, said.
The construction will bring two brand-new terminals, modernize two existing concourses, and rework the surrounding highway system by 2030.
Port Authority is scheduling construction in phases to ensure the hard hats don't interfere with the record-setting crowds.
The next phase, the completion of terminal one, will likely finish in 2026.
For passengers, the rebuild is long overdue. JFK has struggled with aging terminals, outdated technology, slow service, and a string of delays.
Flight fears
As JFK prepares for a record number of summertime passengers, the rest of the US expects fewer flights.
Multiple airlines have announced that they're cutting back domestic flight schedules after seeing a massive slowdown in ticket sales.
On Wednesday, JetBlue announced it was slashing dozens of flights from its US forecast as a cost-saving move.
Southwest Airlines and United also made similar announcements.
The schedule slashings come as America's aviation industry has been tarred by a series of front-page stories, making consumers question safety in the skies.
Newark International Airport experienced a series of temporary outages affecting air traffic controllers. Airlines have reported terrifying near-misses. Multiple planes have crashed this year.
At the same time, American consumers are cutting their retail spending after battling years of inflation.
The toxic mix of decreased flight confidence and lower consumer spending has made airline executives increasingly somber.
Heading into 2025, United, Delta, and American all believed they were on pace for record-setting years.
Now, nearly every airline is just trying to turn a profit.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
37 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Revealed: The real reason flags are painted backwards on planes
A travel expert has revealed the curious reason why flags on planes are often painted on backwards. While it's not compulsory, many airlines have a national flag near the plane's cockpit or on the side of the fuselage. But why is the flag often painted on backwards? According to aviation expert Corry Lane, director of safety at Cirrus Aviation Service, the United States Code has specific rules for how flags should be displayed. The expert told Reader's Digest: '[The code] states that when the flag is displayed on a moving vehicle - like an airplane - it should appear as though it's flying in the wind as the vehicle moves forward.' This means that when a flag is on the right side of a plane, it appears to be reversed, so that it looks like it's flying forwards in the wind. And it's not unique to the USA. In 2024, an X user 'Dave Nolan', posted a photo of a Ryanair plane with the Irish flag the wrong way round. Corry Lane, director of safety at Cirrus Aviation Service, says the United States Code states flags 'should appear as though it's flying in the wind as the vehicle moves forward' He wrote: 'Ryanair did yee lads move to the Ivory Coast? With the weather we are having I don't blame yee at all.' The Ivory Coast has a similar flag to Ireland but the orange and green stripe are the opposite way round. Just like in the USA, the flag is painted backwards to look as though it's flying forwards in the wind. In other aviation news, a flight attendant has revealed the most disgusting habits that passengers have.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Hormel Foods' former CEO Jeffrey Ettinger to return on interim basis
June 23 (Reuters) - Hormel Foods (HRL.N), opens new tab said on Monday former CEO Jeffrey Ettinger will return to helm the Skippy peanut butter maker on an interim basis for 15 months starting July 14. Ettinger, 66, served as chief executive from 2005 to 2016 and will replace current Hormel CEO and president James Snee, 57, who announced his retirement in January. The management transition comes after the company last month tightened its annual profit forecast towards the lower end as it struggles with supply chain issues and weak demand. Snee will serve as a special advisor to the company until October 26 this year, and Hormel expects him to stay on as a consultant for another 18 months after that, the company said in a regulatory filing. The company said it plans to name a permanent CEO in October next year. It has also appointed John Ghingo, executive vice president for the retail business unit, as president of the company, also effective July 14. Hormel had previously said Snee will serve as a strategic advisor to the board until the end of his tenure and for 18 months afterward.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Tesla rolls out first robotaxis in Texas
Tesla's long-awaited robotaxis rolled out for the first time on roads in Austin, Texas on videos shared by Tesla on X, a small group of invited analysts, influencers and shareholders were shown participating in paid rides. The small number of vehicles deployed had a human safety operator in the passenger seat, according to said the "low-key" robotaxi launch highlights Tesla's big bid to compete with existing self-driving taxi operators in the US and China, as the sector grows. Musk congratulated Tesla's artificial intelligence and chip design teams on the launch in a post on X, writing that it was "culmination of a decade of hard work". "Both the AI chip and software teams were built from scratch within Tesla," he of Sunday's pilot, he said in a jokey post that customers would pay "a $4.20 flat fee" for rides in Tesla small fleet of vehicles do not yet include the Cybercab - the futuristic car concept unveiled by Musk at Tesla's "We, Robot" event in October - which Musk says will be the company's driverless taxi in the it was existing Tesla vehicles, with a small "robotaxi" logo on the side, that took to Austin streets on Sunday. Tesla's 'low-key' robotaxi launch Forrester analyst Paul Miller described the launch of the pilot as a "low-key affair"."As expected, only a handful of vehicles are available right now, they only operate in a small part of the city and there's a safety driver in the vehicle in case it encounters situations it cannot handle autonomously," he he added that the move highlighted the company's ambitions to rival firms already offering driverless ride-hailing in the US and around the owned by Google parent Alphabet, along with Amazon's Zoox, already offer self-driving taxi rides in Austin, as well as in San Francisco, California, and Phoenix, Uber, which recently announced it would bring forward trials of driverless taxis in the UK, has partnered with Chinese firms WeRide and Momenta to bring autonomous ride-hailing to more cities outside the US and Miller said Tesla is betting that the volume of cars it delivers, data it has from vehicles and cheaper, camera-based self-driving tech "will allow it to come from behind and pull ahead" of he added that its ability to compete, particularly with Chinese firms dominating the sector, will depend on improvement of its advanced assisted driving system - which Tesla calls Full Self-Driving (FSD).FSD has been subject to probes by US auto regulators and complaints from customers about its safety."If that FSD system isn't a big leap forward from the driver assistance tech that buyers of regular Teslas already use in some countries, it's going to need a lot of remote monitoring and control from an army of teleoperating safety drivers," he said."This will add to Tesla's costs, and offer plenty of opportunities for embarrassing videos of Tesla robotaxis doing weird things." It comes as a number of operators eye the growing market for driverless car maker Volkswagen believes it could swell to €450bn in size by 2035, according to a recent report by Fortune the rise of self-driving cars and ride-hailing services on US roads has also been met with some scepticism over their said in a post on its X account on Monday that its robotaxi service "will greatly increase safety for vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians & cyclists".The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is reportedly reviewing information from Tesla regarding the safety of its self-driving taxis in bad weather, following a request in Motors pulled the plug on its Cruise robotaxi project in December after accidents involving its self-driving company also cited the increasingly competitive market as a reason for suspending its ride-hailing initiative.
