The Port Authority Improves Airports

Nearly $60 million in investments for the modernization of a 45-year-old passenger terminal at LaGuardia Airport and for more efficient aircraft operations and reduce delays at Newark Liberty International Airport have been approved by the Port Authority Board of Commissioners.

The Port Authority also will open a new Welcome Center at LaGuardia Airport just in time to assist Thanksgiving holiday travelers. It is the second Welcome Center opened by the agency—the first debuted at John F. Kennedy International Airport's new Terminal 5 last month—to assist arriving passengers with ground transportation, hotel information, and other related needs.

More than 20 of the centers will open throughout all passenger terminals at the agency's airports by 2012.

The Board acted to advance the second phase of a study to modernize and redevelop LaGuardia Airport's Central Terminal Building, which handles about half of the airport's 24 million annual passengers. The $40 million study is expected to be complete in 2010.

An additional $19.75 million was approved for navigational aids improvements at Newark Liberty, which will enable more arrivals in inclement weather by improving the ability of aircraft to operate in lowvisibility conditions.

The authorizations are the latest in a series of measures and investments that the agency has undertaken, which in the last 18 months alone include:

• increasing significantly its staff of Customer Care Representatives;

• adding seating to terminals at LaGuardia, Newark Liberty International and Stewart International;

• creating e-mail alerts to provide timely information on delays and parking availability;

• replacing seats and flooring on the entire AirTrain JFK fleet;

• opening a new parking garage and cell-phone lot at Kennedy Airport, and a new parking lot at Stewart;

• providing power poles at Kennedy, Newark and LaGuardia airports for customers to recharge batteries for portable electronic devices free of charge; and

• adding dozens of new airport retail, food and beverage, and concessions outlets.

Other steps taken by the Board recently include a project to implement a GPS-like system at Kennedy to better track aircraft on the ground, which will decrease travel times between the airfield and passenger terminals; a program of taxiway improvements at Kennedy to reduce waiting times and improve queuing procedures; and improvements to taxiway intersections at Newark Liberty that will enhance operating efficiency and reduce taxi times.