John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK) New Terminal 1 Program Management

JFK is undergoing a major redevelopment to expand and improve its aging infrastructure. The aim is to expand the airport’s capacity to around 60 million passengers a year, as well as to enhance the customer experience, improve safety and reduce congestion.

Our team has supported the developer-led team in creating the New Terminal One at JFK in New York City since concept inception in 2017. The 26-gate, all-international flight development has faced several challenges including a global pandemic, rising interest rates and cash-strapped tenants. Despite these, a world-class terminal is rising next to JFK’s Bay Runway with our continued support.

We are an integral part of the project management office (PMO) supporting Ferrovial Construction, successor to the Carlyle Airport Group, in the construction of a new international terminal at JFK. New Terminal One (NTO) will replace the current Terminals 1 and 2 and also occupy the site of the former Terminal 3.

Phase A of the project is in construction, but the multi-phase terminal will exceed 2.6 million square feet and includes frontage roadways, all utility upgrades and all apron work on the site.

The development of this significant Public Private Partnership (PPP) involved intensive negotiations with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The equity sponsors are the Ferrovial Group, JCI and Ulico. The sponsors have in turn retained a program management team of which we are in a leading role. Our team supported the Carlyle Airport Group and Ferrovial with a variety of analyses to support the Terminal PPP financial model and lease negotiations. These include operating and capital expense forecasts, major maintenance projections based on asset useful life and various discounted cash flows to support life cycle cost analyses.

In addition to our PMO Team, we provided civil engineering services to the preliminary design team for New Terminal One with a focus on airfield development, reconfiguration of the central terminal area roadways and all base building utility services. Our design role continued till approximately 50% when the project transitioned to a separate design-build team.

Our services to the client have included providing data and supporting negotiations with multiple stakeholders. These include operating and capital expense forecasts, major maintenance projections based on asset useful life and various discounted cash flows to support life cycle cost analyses. We have supported the owner throughout the rating agency review for the debt issuance in addition to conventional program management responsibilities. Our procurement model limits the initial spend with a fixed price at close. In addition, we have overseen the procurement of a state-of-the-art baggage handling system utilizing traditional belts as well as an individual carrier system (ICS) for greater security and efficiency.

We have been a critical part of the PMO team from project inception for improvements that will make this one of the top five terminals in the world. We provided recommendations for the project management information system (PMIS) and advised linking this to the over-arching PMO to achieve efficient predictability and control.

The project is under constant pressure from global economic forces. An evolving design has been a key challenge for the program which is also driven by an aggressive cost model which sets the private investment requirements.

To maintain budget control and resolve projected cost overruns our team provides frequent cost checks with independent cost estimates as design progresses. We compare our cost forecasts and escalation projections to global cost intelligence research prepared by our in-house team. Our project controls professional, integrated into the New Terminal One PMO, maintains robust cost management tracking and reporting. Where needed, we lead value engineering efforts and procurement solutions to identify cost reduction options and present to program leadership.