JFK airport terminal ‘will remain closed’ after power outage

‘Electrical panel failure’ leads to ‘small isolated fire,’ airport says

JFK Terminal 1 will stay closed on Friday after experiencing electrical issues, affecting both flights leaving and landing at the New York City airport.

“JFK Terminal 1 will remain closed on 2/17 due to electrical issues as the Port Authority continues working with the terminal’s operator to restore flight operations as quickly as possible. Travelers should check with their carriers for flight status before coming to the airport,” the Port Authority told The Independent on Friday.

The outage started on Thursday, with airport officials working to facilitate landing and takeoff for the affected flights at other terminals. Some flights set to land at JFK were sent on to other airports along the East Coast, according to the airport’s site.

The issues started in the middle of the morning on Thursday at the international terminal when the airport initially posted on social media about a “power disruption”.

“Due to power disruption at Terminal 1, some flights may be arriving and departing from different terminals. Travelers are urged to check with their carriers for flight status,” the airport said after 11am.

Later on Thursday, shortly before 3pm, the airport tweeted that “a power outage at JFK Terminal 1 is impacting the terminal’s ability to accept inbound and outbound flights. We are working to accommodate impacted flights using other terminals. Travelers, please check flight status with your airline before heading to the airport”.

“The power outage was caused by an electrical panel failure, which also caused a small isolated fire overnight that was immediately extinguished,” the airport said in response to a Twitter user.

When another account asked if another terminal would be affected, the airport said that “each passenger terminal here at JFK is non connecting and operate independently. However, we recommend allowing extra time when traveling to the airport”.

Terminal 1 hosts more than a dozen international airlines and has more than 8.5 per cent of all the gates at the airport, NBC New York noted.

Anthony Russo was set to fly to London, but he told NBC New York that he was “not really sure what’s going on — no one is aware of the situation, at least that’s what it seems like”.

“I had a lot planned, I was gonna see some friends, and now I don’t know what the hell is happening,” he added.

The airlines flying out of Terminal 1 include Aeroflot, Aero Mexico, Air China, Air France, AirPlus Comet, Alitalia, Austrian Airlines, Cayman Airways, China Airlines, China Eastern, Japan Airlines, Korean Air, Lufthansa, Olympic, Royal Air Maroc, Saudi Arabian Airlines, and Turkish, according to NBC New York.

On Thursday night, since the electrical boards were not working, airline staff were writing down cancellations by hand and handing out flyers to passengers.

“Unfortunately, your flight was canceled,” a Lufthansa flyer said, according to the local outlet.

In a statement shared with The Independent on Friday afternoon, the Port Authority said that it “continues to work with Terminal 1’s operator to complete repairs, restore power and resume flight operations at the terminal as soon as possible. No other terminals at the airport are affected. Terminal 1 represents 5% of all JFK scheduled passenger flights, and of today’s 64 scheduled Terminal 1 arrivals and departures, 13 will operate at other JFK terminals, 12 will operate at other local airports, and 39 have been cancelled. Contingent on the completion of repairs and testing, we anticipate the start of limited operations at Terminal 1 on Saturday. Travelers should continue to check with their carriers for flight status before coming to Terminal 1. We will perform a thorough review in conjunction with the private entity that operates Terminal 1”.