JFK Terminal 1 to resume normal flight operations Sunday after power is restored, Port Authority says
Limited flights resumed Saturday at Kennedy Airport's Terminal 1, where a power outage had caused flight cancellations since Thursday. Shown is an air traffic control tower at Kennedy Airport on Jan. 11. Credit: Getty Images/Michael M. Santiago
Kennedy Airport's Terminal 1 will resume normal flight operations on Sunday, a day after full power was restored following a power outage that had disrupted flights since Thursday and shut down the terminal Friday, the Port Authority said.
Limited flight activity had restarted Saturday after the power was back, the Port Authority said.
Safety and security systems are fully functional and other building systems are being tested and brought back online, according to a Port Authority statement Saturday.
Of the 64 arrivals and departures that were originally scheduled at Terminal 1 on Saturday, 26 flights will operate at Terminal 1; 18 flights will be handled at other terminals; and eight flights will be accommodated at Newark Liberty International Airport, the authority said.
In addition, two flights will operate at New York Stewart International Airport, and 10 flights have been canceled, the authority said.
Thousands of airline passengers were impacted by the power outage, including 120 South Huntington high school students, faculty and parents traveling to Italy to perform for Pope Francis.
The South Huntington group had to travel by bus to Newark Airport in New Jersey, where they were able to depart on a 1 a.m. flight that landed in Milan at 7:45 a.m., said Brother Joshua DiMauro, OSF, the school's assistant principal, who is traveling with the students.
Concessions will operate with reduced menu options as activity resumes in Terminal 1, the authority said. The Port Authority and the private terminal operator will have additional customer service staff in place to assist passengers.
Customers are encouraged to continue to check with their carriers for the latest flight information. All other terminals at Kennedy are operating normally, the authority said.
The power outage was pinned on an electrical panel failure, which also sparked a small, isolated fire overnight that was extinguished early Thursday, officials said.
Craig Schneider is a Long Island native and Stony Brook University alumnus. He joined Newsday as a general assignment reporter in January 2018 after 20 years at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.