Newsman: The JFK airport authority said that Terminal 1 will remain closed on Friday due to electrical issues as the Port Authority continues to work towards restoring flight operations.
The power disruption at JFK Airport impacted travelers on Thursday, with some flights being turned around and diverted to their points of origin. There was an ‘Air New Zealand’ flight which was already eight hours into its route to JFK had to make a U-turn and return to New Zealand. The problem continued Friday.
The power outage is currently impacting the terminal’s ability to accept inbound and outbound flights. Planes that were already en route to JFK when the outage happened were diverted to airports like Newark and Boston.
According to Flight Aware, there are a total of 129 flights delayed and 25 canceled. Travelers are being urged to check with their carriers. The updates on the flight boards were written by hand because the electronic boards were not working.
The Port Authority said the power outage was caused by an electrical panel failure which also caused a small isolated fire overnight.
The disturbance at Terminal 1 caused airport officials to shift some flights to arrive and depart from different terminals as many passengers found themselves stranded. Many of the international flights that can still arrive will do so at Terminal 4.
Portions of Terminal 1, which serves several international carriers including Air France, Korean Air and Lufthansa, are operating on a generator.
The TSA said it is eager for power to be restored to resume normal checkpoint operations. They currently have two of eight checkpoint lanes that are in use.
The Port Authority and its terminal operators are working together to accommodate impacted flights using other terminals.
