Five PANYNJ airports receive ACI World’s Airport Health Accreditation

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) has announced that John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), LaGuardia Airport (LGA), New York Stewart International Airport (SWF) and Teterboro Airport (TEB) have received the Airport Health Accreditation from Airports Council International (ACI) World.

The international organisation’s Airport Health Accreditation programme evaluates new health and safety measures and procedures introduced at airports worldwide in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The ACI Airport Health Accreditation recognises PANYNJ’s swift response to the COVID-19 crisis and its work to maintain a safe environment for airport passengers through aggressive cleaning and disinfection programmes, physical distancing (where feasible and practical), staff protection, physical layout adjustments and passenger communications.

PANYNJ is now the largest airport system in the United States to receive this recognition for high health and safety standards introduced during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Kevin O’Toole, said: “This important acknowledgement shows that the work we’ve done to keep our airport customers safe during the pandemic is paying off. Our mission to ensure that the travelling public remains safe and secure while using our airports – or any Port Authority facility – is constant.”

Rick Cotton, Executive Director of PANYNJ, said: “The safety of the travelling public is the Port Authority’s top priority. ACI’s recognition confirms that our agency is practicing what it preaches, with a commitment to keeping our airports clean, sanitised and capable of helping passengers to socially distance effectively.”

Among the factors and locations considered in the ACI health accreditation assessment were terminal access, check-in areas, security screening and boarding gates, lounges, retail outlets, food and beverage locations, boarding bridges, escalators and elevators and the baggage claim areas and arrivals exit. 

Through unified recovery efforts, PANYNJ and its partner airlines and terminal operators have implemented leading-edge capabilities across its airports under four core principles: Maximise hygiene, minimise contact, minimise access and minimise dwell.

Specifically, PANYNJ has:

• Restricted terminal access to ticketed passengers and employees only
• Required facial coverings and monitored the terminals for passenger and employee compliance
• Partnered with public and private health providers to open COVID-19 testing sites for travellers and airport workers at passenger terminals at JFK, Newark and LaGuardia Airports
• Deployed over 3,500 hand-sanitising units and more than 150 hand-wipe units at the airports
• Ensured continuous regular, vigilant cleaning of high-touch services in accordance with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines
• Installed hundreds of plexiglass barriers at high-contact customer service points
• Added more than 10,000 signs and social distancing decals emphasising the agency’s safety and operational protocols, which are key to the agency’s overall programme.

To communicate these essential advances and PANYNJ’s commitment to ensuring a safe environment, the agency produced Steps To Safety For Airport Customers – a video (shown above) showcasing safety measures designed to streamline the entire airport journey and keep customers and employees safe. 

The public awareness campaign highlights the extensive steps that the agency has taken to ensure its customers and employees stay safe and healthy when travelling through and working at any of PANYNJ’s airports. Other measures – such as contactless technologies and personal protective equipment (PPE) vending machines – are also featured.

PANYNJ has also implemented a mask distribution programme at JFK, Newark Liberty and LaGuardia Airports, beginning on 20 November 2020 and scheduled to run through the Thanksgiving holiday period.