Jaunted took a jaunt over to the new Terminal 5 (not the music venue) at JFK. The terminal, with design by Gensler, will house JetBlue and is set to open in September of this year.
The original T5 was the Eero Saarinen-designed TWA terminal and will be incorporated into JetBlue's, which is set behind and connected to it (Jaunted notes that "airline reps say that at minimum there'll be check-in kiosks in the TWA building.") Some highlights:
The Departures Hall: You can get to the terminal via the usual ways auto and AirTran, and there will be a 900-foot covered walkway connecting to the latter. Upon arrival you'll see security, "which has been pushed to the very forefront of the terminal. Plans call for 20 lanes in one big checkpoint; the current JB terminal has about half that many, split into two checkpoints. Since you've already checked in from home, this is the only line you'll have to stand in."
The Marketplace: 55,000 square-feet of food and retail (pictured in rendering). They promise more options than the current terminal, in addition to flat screen TVs and WiFi (we just hope their WiFi works, as it rarely does in their hotspots now).
The Baggage Claim: For those arriving in the new digs, you'll be welcomed with open arms and "six massive luggage carousels." That's two more than now.
And then of course there are the gates, of which there will be 26 versus the current 21. JetBlue announced their T5 takeover in 2004, prior to kicking out the Terminal 5 art exhibit from their new space. Their website currently states that they will be able to "support 500 daily departures and arrivals, doubling our current operating capacity at JFK."
